How Understanding Teamwork and Organizational Culture Help us Transport 3,389 passengers from Lagos to Saudi Arabia Airport and Back without issues.

by | Sep 6, 2022 | 0 comments

It is critical to learn about the culture of the organization with which you wish to work with because understanding the company’s culture can assist you in guiding your team through a project with minimal stress. The culture of a company always influences its success, regardless of how effective the company’s business model may be (Peter Drucker), I didn’t realize how true this was until recently when I had the honor of leading a team of ordinary, yet great and wonderful men and women in a remarkable feat of transporting 3300 passengers to and from Murtala Muhammed International Airport LOS, Nigeria and Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport MED Saudi Arabia.

Parking hours recorded for the 16 flights conducted by my team.

We successfully completed 16 flights using an A339 with no accidents or incidents, no missing luggage, and no parking charges incurred, implying that the aircraft was not on the ground for more than 3 hours as indicated by the picture above. Interestingly, these young men and women came from various organizations, but we quickly became a team and proactively understood each organization’s culture, structure, and values. As a result, we could create a strategy that perfectly fits the operations. The highest ground time recorded was 2hrs but traffic and other delays contributed to 3 flights slightly exceeding 3hrs.

A general picture with some of the team members towards the end of two months of operations in DNMM LOS
All work without some jokes makes the operations boring: catching fun with a team member

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the team at Nahco Aviance PLC, a group of incredible young men and women whose contributions to the success of the operations are limitless, Pathfinders International Limited anytime I see them doing their jobs, I always feel very safe. Time does not permit me to mention FAAN, NCAA, NAHCON, NIS, NCS, DSS, NPF, NAF, PORT HEALTH, QUARANTINE, Lagos state government and Muslim pilgrim welfare board, Oyo state government and Muslim pilgrim welfare board, Edo state government and Muslim pilgrim welfare board, Osun state government and Muslim pilgrim welfare board, and others whose support and cooperation was incredible. We all did an excellent job despite the prevailing inadequacies.

Happy team members
Some supervisors catching fun.

This and other similar experiences have convinced me that it is possible to run a successful, efficient, safe, and profitable flight operation in Nigeria. For my team to succeed, there must be serious hope for aviation in Nigeria, and I implore all stakeholders to continue doing their best because we will undoubtedly overcome all of these challenges and soar higher than we have ever seen. I hope that one day the aviation community will look to us for solutions on how we got through, but until then, let’s make it better together because I am confident that beneath our challenges lie great opportunities.

About the Author

Shadrach Swante Kambai

Flight Operations Consultant, Aviation Data Analyst, Business Developer (shadrach@cliqjets.com)

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