United Airlines

LAGOS—United Airlines flies daily between to Lagos — Nigeria’s largest city — and the U.S. city of Houston, Texas. But not for much longer.

Media reports say demand for the route connecting the two oil-industry capitals has fallen. The airline is also having trouble converting proceeds from ticket sales in Nigeria’s naira into dollars.

United is not the only airline with this problem. Spanish carrier Iberia recently ended its flights to Nigeria from Madrid. The International Air Transport Association says nearly $600 million in airline revenues is trapped in Nigeria.

Chris Aligbe, CEO of aviation consulting firm Belujane Konzult, says if airlines can’t get their money out of a country, they leave.

“Airlines are in business to make money and to survive,” he said. “And when they make money and they don’t find the value in the money they are making, they will give up.”

The global drop in the price of Nigeria’s top export, oil, has caused a shortage of dollars in the country. Capital controls imposed by the government mean many companies struggle to move profits out of Nigeria.

Nigerian airlines — such as Arik Air and Medview — that fly internationally may see more passengers attracted to them, Aligbe said. These airlines can accept payments in naira without having to worry about moving the money overseas.

But these airlines will still have to settle bills in the countries they serve in foreign currency.

“They are facing very serious challenges in terms of that. But they are also gaining in terms of passengers,” Aligbe said.

Foreign airlines have taken measures to reduce their exposure to naira. Delta Air Lines, for instance, doesn’t accept payment in naira for certain tickets.

While they may reduce their services, Aligbe said countries with longstanding ties to Nigeria are unlikely to end their flights. Ethiopian Airlines has been flying to Nigeria since the 1960s. British Airways also has been flying to the country since it was a colony of the UK. And Turkish Airlines connects Nigeria to a country it does hundreds of millions of dollars in trade with every year.

“I know that airlines like BA will never pull out,” Aligbe said. “I know that Ethiopian Airline will not pull out. I know that Turkish Airlines will not pull out.”

Nigeria’s central bank announced last month that it would alter its foreign exchange policy. Details on those changes have yet to be made public.

Nigeria has restricted the amount of money that can be moved abroad after the global slump in oil prices depleted the government’s U.S. currency reserves. The country owed airlines about $575 million in air fares as of March 31, according to the International Air Transport Association.

United Airlines will stop flying to Nigeria next month, ending the carrier’s only route to Africa because of weakness in the energy sector and difficulty in collecting money from tickets sold in that country.

The daily route from Houston to Lagos had underachieved for years but was kept alive because of its importance to Texas-based customers, United Continental Holdings Inc. said in a note to employees Wednesday. The last flight will be June 30, after which Delta Air Lines Inc. will be the only major U.S. carrier flying to Africa.

Nigeria has restricted the amount of money that can be moved abroad after the global slump in oil prices depleted the government’s U.S. currency reserves. The country owed airlines about $575 million in air fares as of March 31, according to the International Air Transport Association.

“Repatriation has been a significant issue, as has been the downturn in the energy sector,” said United spokesman Jonathan Guerin, who confirmed the note’s authenticity.

Passengers can still fly to Nigeria on United’s trans-Atlantic business partner, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, through a connection in Frankfurt. The Boeing Co. 787 serving Lagos will be used on the San Francisco-to-Tel Aviv route, which will expand to daily in October from three times weekly, according to the airline note.

By Cailey Rizzo | Mashable

A United Airlines flight attendant pulled the emergency slide and exited a parked plane at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Monday morning. The flight from Sacramento landed at the airport at 11:26 a.m. and taxied for five minutes. After the Boeing 737 made a complete stop at the gate, the flight attendant opened the plane’s front door, deployed the emergency slide, slid out and walked away.

“When we landed … we were told to stay in our seats as de-planing would take a bit longer,” passenger Jonah Vella told local news station Click 2 Houston. “Everything seemed to be pretty standard.”

According to the station, there was a medical emergency happening at the back of the plane at the same time that diverted passengers’ attentions.

There were 159 passengers onboard the flight, plus six crew members, including the flight attendant in question.

While the flight attendant’s motive is not immediately clear, United said that they believe the action was done intentionally.

“We hold all of our employees to the highest standard,” the airline said in a statement. “The unsafe behavior is unacceptable and does not represent the more than 20,000 flight attendants who ensure the safety of our customers.”

The airline removed the flight attendant “from her flying duties.”

The plane was shortly taken out of service for inspection and then continued onto Fort Lauderdale after a 40 minute delay.

Bush Intercontinental Airport confirmed to Mashable that the incident did not affect airport operations. United did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

United Airlines flight attendant pulled emergency slide, walked away

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