Kudirat Scott-Igbene, marketing and communications manager of Virgin Atlantic Airways (VAA), has explained that it is no longer sustainable for the airline to continue to operate Nigerian crew at this time, saying that their services are no longer needed.
In an emailed message to The Travel Port, she said the feedback that the airline got on the services of Nigerian crew was that, ‘this is no longer a requirement on the Lagos route’.
“We have decided that we will no longer have crew based in Lagos. This is by no means a reflection on our Lagos based cabin crew, the primary purpose of our locally based cabin crew has been to provide cultural expertise, and customer feedback has shown us that this is no longer a requirement on the Lagos route.
“The additional complexity required to operate an international crew base where there are no foreign language requirement means it is no longer sustainable going forward”, she said.
Scott-Igbene, who insisted that the airline was not winding up operations in Nigeria as it has earlier in about a year ago, closed down its Nigerian call centre, added:’This announcement has no impact on our flying programme and we plan to continue flights between Lagos and London.
“After 14 years flying the route we remain committed to servicing the Nigerian people, whether it be for business, family or education”, she added.
She is reacting to the reports that VAA sacked all its Nigerian crew having allegedly given only three weeks notice and without any severance package to the affected staff.
This according to reports, is regardless of their length of service with the airline.
The reports claimed that at least 20 Nigerian air-hostesses were affected.
