ValueJet is not your regular, conventional airline. 

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They approach things differently, from how they run their flight operations to how they tell stories on their social media pages in a trendy and engaging way.

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To understand their remarkable story, we visited their office and spoke with Imaabin Kenoye Elliot, the Chief Financial Officer at ValueJet. 

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When ValueJet started operations in October 2022, it entered the competitive Nigerian aviation market with one goal: to be known as an airline that always kept to time. 

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Now approaching its third anniversary, this domestic carrier has established itself as one of the top three airlines in Nigeria's local market. Looking back, they can say they’ve not only fulfilled their goal of being known as the airline that’s always on time, but they’ve also won the hearts of many frequent flyers. 

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You can call them a truly “smooth operator.”

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Achieving this was no easy feat, especially given the challenges ValueJet faced during its initial launch.

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Elliot explains;

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When we started, it was a little bit overwhelming because it was like what we had been waiting for for a very long time, hitting us in the face. But it wasn't surprising because we had been preparing to start our first commercial operations. Before an airline starts flying, much groundwork goes into the arrangement.

You don't just set up an airline and then start flying immediately. There are a series of certifications by different regulatory bodies like NCA, and then, of course, you need to put a lot of things into place.

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From getting certified to the first take-off

Starting an airline isn't as simple as buying an aircraft, onboarding a payment gateway, and selling tickets. 

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ValueJet went through rigorous regulatory processes to earn their Air Operator Certificate (AOC), which officially qualified them to fly within the Nigerian airspace.

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With a fleet of three CRJ 900 aircraft, each capable of carrying 90 passengers, ValueJet strategically focused on Nigeria's busiest travel routes: the Lagos-Abuja-Port Harcourt triangle.

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This decision helped them build passenger numbers quickly, regardless of initial challenges. 

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For a new airline, one of the major things that marks your journey in your growth process is convincing people to fly your aircraft. Without the passengers, there is no airline.

Imaabin Kenoye Elliot, Chief Financial Officer at ValueJet

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The art of always being on time

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What sets ValueJet apart in Nigeria's aviation landscape is its commitment to punctuality, and people love them for that. The airline has made on-time performance (OTP) a cornerstone of its operations and company culture.

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One of the critical parameters in the aviation sector that measures an airline's performance is the OTP or on-time performance. When we started, that was one of the major criteria we set to ensure that we keep steady or make it shorter. The shortest OTP will account for quick on-time departure, quick on-time arrival, and also, it means for me as a finance person, I'll be generating more revenue.

We are one of the best in terms of on-time departure and on-time arrival. We joke that even the company's chairman is occasionally left behind. So, we don't delay the aircraft because we are flying any director or even the chairman of the airline. If he comes late, the aircraft is closed. No matter whose ox is gored, we don't delay for any passenger.

Imaabin Kenoye Elliot, the Chief Financial Officer at ValueJet

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This commitment to reliable schedules has helped ValueJet build trust with customers who can confidently plan their travel, knowing that if they book a ValueJet flight, it will depart and arrive as scheduled. They have a culture of maintaining a line of clear communication and a sense of urgency across the entire organisation.

One of the things that we've done within ValueJet to make sure that every bit and piece of our entire operations is handled is that we have a quick response from top to bottom.

Most of the senior management executives are a call away. So, if anything goes wrong, they can be called to intervene at any time. We also have a very good communication channel.

Other than professional communication channels, there are also unofficial channels. You can drop a WhatsApp message to the MD/CEO of the company, me, the CFO, my team, or any other team member.

We also have periodic meetings to review our operations so that if things go wrong, we can catch them on time and nip them in the bud. 

Imaabin Kenoye Elliot, the Chief Financial Officer at ValueJet

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In the rare instances where delays are unavoidable, ValueJet extends its culture of clear communication to its customers. They provide timely updates about delays, further strengthening trust and connection with their passengers.)

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Beyond being an airline

Despite the capital-intensive nature of airline operations, ValueJet prioritises corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the communities it serves.

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We prioritise giving back to society. Part of our broader strategy is CSR, which includes reaching out to organisations and showing them that ValueJet is more than just flying. We care about our customers, the host community, and the people we relate with generally.

Imaabin Kenoye Elliot, the Chief Financial Officer at ValueJet

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They are also the official air carrier of the Super Eagles of Nigeria. Maybe with ValueJet’s stellar services, the Super Eagles will perform better in games and win the next AFCON. We’re rooting for both of them.

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How ValueJet cut down on payment failures and downtimes to 4% with Kora

Like most airlines, ValueJet’s customers book their tickets online through their website. Early in their operations, they faced significant challenges with their payment processing system.

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The CFO explains further; 

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One of the major challenges we had before onboarding Kora was issues around the success rate of transactions. We had different customer reviews saying they were processing transactions halfway when maybe they lost their data connection, causing the transaction to be truncated. Sometimes, they had been debited but didn't get the tickets.

We set out to find vendors who could help us mitigate these challenges and reduce them to the bare minimum. We believed there could have been a way to do this. 

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These payment failures were affecting a significant portion of ValueJet's revenue. They needed to onboard a payment solution suited for airlines. After implementing Kora's payment engine, they saw dramatic improvements.

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That was why we spoke with Kora, and then when we saw that Kora could help us resolve this issue, of course, we were very happy to onboard Kora. So far, we are happy with the services we are getting. The rate of complaints has significantly reduced. We have a 95% to 96% success rate with Kora. 

The other 4-5% is an allowable limit; I don't think any payment solution has a 100% rate. So, we are happy with that.

Of course, there are always complaints, maybe regarding refunds, and where those arise, which are minimal, we speak to our dedicated support staff from Kora to have that resolved.

The finance team, led by myself, is very happy with Kora's performance regarding our collections. The early settlement of amounts collected is just T+1, so today's collection drops into my account either by the close of business today or first thing the next day. 

Imaabin Kenoye Elliot, the Chief Financial Officer at ValueJet

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Flying into the future

As ValueJet approaches its third anniversary and plans for regional and international expansion, its partnership with Kora becomes even more critical.

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Elliot explains;

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Looking at our growth into the future, we are very happy to continue to have Kora as a partner as we are looking at our plans for the future. Going into the future, we will rely on Kora as a vital partner, not just in collections but also in helping us in settlements. 

We'll be very happy to work with Kora on this.

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