Group Managing Director
NAHCoAviance Plc
…To refurbish existing facilities, acquire new equipment
The management of NahcoAviance PLC has hinted on a five year strategic plans that would see the ground handling company maintain its leading position in the air service business in Nigeria.
The ground handler is set to achieve its new vision and mission with improved quality service delivery through professionalism and better technology.
The hints were dropped today by its Group Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer Mrs. Olatokunbo Fagbemi during an interactive section with aviation journalists in her office at the company’s headquarter located in Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Fagbemi who insisted that NAHCO remains the leader controlling about 65per cent of ground handling business in the aviation industry in the country despite the many troubles it went through in the recent times.
She said, for the company to maintain its leadership position in the industry, it has to change its former ways of doing to achieve greater height.
“NAHCo today, is a leader in the industry. We want to maintain that leadership but we can’t be the leader without giving excellent services. We want to be the leader driving the business, with new innovation right system and persons who can deliver service excellence,” she said.
Fagbemi who declined to give the total financial outlay for the five year strategic plan, said the company has invested and would continue to invest in its equipment, facilities and its workers.
She disclosed that in the last couple of months the company has invested about N1.9 billion in equipment, some of which would be delivered by the end of first quarter of this year while a total of about N3.6 billion would have been spent at the end of the year on equipment
For the start, she said that the company would immediately look into the refurbishment of its existing facilities while it plans to set up a programme office, to drive it as the company looks at goals in the region of about five to seven times which though audacious but achievable given the plan she wanted to push. She added that NAHCo is also drawing up another programme for its workforce.
According to her, “I am not saying the journey would be smooth, but we would achieve it”.
Fagbemi who said the company has no intention to sack staff, however declared that it is the intention of the company to get things right even as she added that the company would do everything to improve the workers,
We are going to invest heavily in our people. We are going to invest in automation, which does not mean that people would be laid off. Because if there is more work more people would be employed in the business despite and in spite of automation in the group, people would still be employed. But things would be different. We would bring more professionalism. NAHCo today is the leader in this industry. We want to maintain that leadership. But we don’t want to be the leader without giving excellent service. We want to be the leader driving the business with new innovations, right system, accessories and delivering excellence”.
Notwithstanding the number of customers the company might have lost in the last two years, Fagbemi assured that the new strategic plans would help the organisation to do everything to retain its existing customers and attract new ones even as there are programmes to set a new standard by bringing professionalism into the air service business which would bring discerning customers to the company.
However, the GMD realized that the company is into a business where the customers are stronger than it. The customers she noted are in the cost cutting mood, which brings pressure on price. She however appealed to the customers to realize that question of price should not be allowed to drive compromise safety and security in the provision of air services.
