Thursday, November 20, 2014

Ethiopian Airways: Building an Empire in the Skies!


Eighteen-Hundred years ago the disciples of the Persian prophet Mani, sat by his feet as he made his historical statement about the four great kingdoms of the time, The Persian, The Roman, The Chinese and The Axumites…
I walked towards the ticket counter at Dulles Airport, and was greeted by the ticket agent at the counter. Having experienced rude ticket agents for the past three years thanks to United Airways and “Fly America Act”, it was a pleasant surprise to finally encounter a normal, friendly airline employee who was not stressed out about providing service. The ticket agents were the employees of Ethiopian Airlines, and within a few minutes I got my assigned seat and my luggage taken care of.

 
 
Steeped in facts and mythology, Ethiopia and Ethiopians are part of an ancient civilization that stretches thousands of years. They have survived as a people and civilization, whether they were the great ancient Axumite Kingdom or the nation that gave us coffee, or the country that defeated Italy in 1896, escaped colonization with Emperor Haile Selassie, survived the Derg and recently experiencing the bane of tribalism nevertheless they survive and strive.
I walked into the plane and was greeted by the flight attendant who showed me to my seat. I took my seat and eventually our flight took off for Addis Ababa. During the flight I looked around the plane, in front of me was an old lady who looked stressed and kept on asking the flight attendant questions and asking for help, there was the couple with crying babies and finally the man who kept on getting up and opening his overhead compartment to take something from his bag!! Each and every one received the attention. During the flight I did not see flight attendant disrespect anyone and in fact they kept a smiling and respectful demeanor for the duration of the flight, which is long and tiring!
Ethiopian airlines, despite its limited resources as compared to its counterparts around the world, has had a tremendous effect on airline travel specially in Africa, connecting countries, people and delivering cargo, in an often challenging environment. If its ticket agents, flight attendants and pilots were indicative of the company culture then Ethiopian Airlines will have a bright future ahead. I would like to suggest to United Airline to look to Ethiopian Airways for training its ticket agents and flight attendants!!! 
As I ate my lunch listening to the great Ethipian singer, Mahmoud Ahmed sing the classic  song, “Tizita”, I imagined  the Persian prophet, Mani and  wondered whether the descendants of the Kingdom of Axum could one day become a great power again but this time up in the skies.