* Commercial Director, East and West Africa, Delta Air Lines, Bobby Bryan
…Flies 120 Million Bags Yearly
…Flies Close To 1 Million Passengers On Lagos—Atlanta Route Since Inception
…Commends FG Efforts On Trapped Funds
…Says Nigeria Has Strong Aviation Market
As part of efforts to ensure that passengers track their baggage on its aircraft on all its routes, Delta Air Lines has deployed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) baggage tracking technology.
This is just as the airline revealed that it flies over 120 million bags every year, carried almost 1 million passengers on the Lagos –Atlanta route since it commenced flight operations in 2007 and has average load factor of 73 per cent.
This was disclosed to select journalists in Lagos by the Commercial Director, East and West Africa, Delta Air Lines, Bobby Bryan, while doing a re-cap on Delta, its latest corporate news as well as some local developments of interest and significance.
According to him, “Improvements across the business help take the stress out of travel, like implementing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) baggage tracking technology. “
“Delta customers now track their bag’s last scanned location on the Fly Delta mobile app. The new map enhancement builds on new RFID bag tags and the roll out of RFID tracking technology at 84 airports in the U.S. All domestic stations now offer map view of the bag’s journey and international stations will receive this technology” he said.
Bryan, who stated that RFID would likely be rolled out in Lagos in 2017, added that safety and on time departure is what Delta Air Lines owe its teeming passengers.
He also disclosed that the airline does not have missing baggage problem at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.
The Commercial Manager also stated that operational reliability is a key competitive advantage, adding that it has strong operational performance on its Lagos to Atlanta flight.
On how the airline has been able to sustain Delta Air Lines operations on the Nigeria –Atlanta route despite the recession and other challenges, Bryan stated that the incredible strong market in Nigeria, commitment to the Nigerian aviation market bythe airline and the incredible performance of the airline’s staff.
Speaking on how the airline has been able to adapt to the current challenges brought about by recession, the Commercial Director said, “We do adapt .We have adjusted our schedules, ticketing policy and how we sell. We will continue to adapt as long as we are here.”
On airline’s trapped funds, Bryan, who commended the Federal Government for its efforts at assisting foreign airlines at repatriating their funds to their respective countries however, added that what airlines repatriate is ticket sales.
In his words, “We are not repatriating profit but ticket sales. Government has been helpful to certain degree but we went government to do more because the problem has not gone away.”
He stated that the Nigerian aviation market, had been a challenging market in a challenging time, adding that it has not affected Delta Air Lines, as the number of people, who want to travel has not gone down.
Speaking on whether the scarcity of aviation fuel also known as Jet—A1 has affected the airline’s operations, he said, “We have been managing the situation by working with our suppliers, crew and the challenges on the airline has been minimal.
