Aviation Unions Picket Air Peace Operations, Assault Workers over Refusal to Join Associations

• Over 80 flights cancelled as airlines lose about N1.8 billion 

•Aviation roundtable condemns picketing, says it tarnishes Nigeria’s image 

•United Nigeria Airlines grounds operations in protest

Chinedu Eze

Over 80 flights were cancelled yesterday, with airlines losing about N1.8 billion, as National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and Air Transport Service Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) picketed the operations of Nigeria’s leading carrier, Air Peace, at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

At the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Lagos airport, where Air Peace conducts its major domestic flights, members of the unions blocked access to the halls. This caused workers of the airline to protest against the action of the unions, insisting they do not want to join the unions.

But the protest by Air Peace workers drew violent reaction from the unions, allegedly assaulting some of the airline’s ground services staff.

The disruption forced United Nigeria Airlines to temporarily suspend its operations, and later, Enugu Air also suspended its operations from Abuja in protest.

Air Peace was forced to cancel half of its 75 flights a day, while United also cancelled 32 flights. Other airlines, like Aero Contractors, were forced to delay flights in Abuja.

The unions said they were protesting against the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) owed Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) by the airlines.

But NCAA had earlier confirmed that it had agreed on a payment arrangement with the airlines to offset the debt, which accrued when jet fuel prices spiked from N900 per litre to N3, 500 during the recent US-Iran war.

The unions also said they picketed the airlines because of their refusal to allow their workers to join the labour organisations.

But they did not explain why Air Peace operations appeared to be targeted, because besides Aero Contractors and Arik Air, other domestic airlines’ workers are not members of any of the unions.

Air Peace, in a statement, said, “We wish to inform our esteemed passengers and the general flying public of temporary disruptions to our flight operations arising from the picketing of our airline and the ongoing industrial action by members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

“The ongoing industrial action has resulted in the barricading of the entrances to our departure terminals at Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 1 (Alpha and Zulu Terminals) and Terminal 2 in Lagos, as well as the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Terminal in Abuja.”

The airline further explained that the blockade had restricted access to the terminals, preventing the departure of scheduled flights from Lagos and Abuja.

It stated, “Consequently, passengers scheduled to travel across our network have been significantly affected by the disruption to flight operations.

“Air Peace sincerely apologises to all affected and stranded passengers for the disruption and inconvenience caused by circumstances beyond the airline’s control. Passengers scheduled to travel later today are being contacted and provided with relevant updates as the situation evolves.”

Meanwhile, Head of Media and Communications at United Nigeria Airlines, Chibuike Uloka, said the picketing severely crippled their operations.

Uloka disclosed that all of the eight serviceable aircraft of the airline were fully booked and scheduled to operate 32 flights during the window the picket lasted.

 He said the fleet—comprising two Boeing 737s (175 seats each, scheduled for 8 flights), one CRJ 190 (100 seats, 8 flights), two CRJ aircraft (80 and 90 seats, 4 flights each), and an ERJ (50 seats, 8 flights) – was set to airlift a total of 3,280 passengers.

With ticket prices averaging N150,000, United Nigeria Airlines alone lost an estimated N492 million in gross revenue due to the sudden disruption.

THISDAY learnt from a source close to Air Peace that with over 75 flights a day, including domestic, regional, and international flights, the airline generated about N1.3 billion in revenue daily, but more than half of the projected amount was lost to the disruption.

A passenger on United Nigeria Airlines who would not want his name mentioned said he was supposed to have a visa interview scheduled for 11am in Abuja yesterday morning.

The passenger lamented, “This development is so devastating for me. What do I do? Where do I start from? I can’t even get a flight at the moment to Abuja as all other airlines say they are fully booked. This is, indeed, a missed opportunity for me.”

The blockade by the aviation unions left hundreds of domestic and regional passengers stranded at the terminals, with check-in counters abandoned and scheduled flights halted.

Managing Director and CEO of Aero Contractors, Ado Sanusi, confirmed to THISDAY that the disruption affected the airline’s operations in Abuja.

Sanusi said, “It affected our operations out of Abuja. But out of Lagos, I think the picketing was concentrated at General Aviation Terminal, GAT, and we do not operate from there. The effect was minimal but we experienced delays in some of our routes.”

Sanusi accused the labour unions of exercising an arbitrary power to disrupt flight operations anytime they wanted, saying that showed “the aviation sector has a bigger problem than we think”.

He stated, “If the unions are taking it upon themselves to picket the airlines because they are not paying five per cent, then it has a problem because the parastatals have means of collecting the five per cent.

“Nigeria is a country of law and we are law abiding citizens. I think the federal government should investigate this because people are taking laws into their hands. If the parastatals cannot utilise the institutions government has put in place for collection of debt and all other matters that relate to lack of payments.

“They can use EFCC, ICPC, police, the court. I believe we have a very sick society. I believe a full investigation should be made into this process and look at it.”

Aviation Round Table (ART), a think-tank made up of stakeholders in the industry, also condemned the picketing of Air Peace by the unions.

ART said it was “deeply appalled by the disruptive and selective strike organised by labour unions today in utter disregard of the ongoing intervention of the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development”.

The body added, “While we recognise the unions right to advocate for the welfare of their membership under universally accepted principles, picketing airport terminals over the non-remittance of Ticket Sales Charges and Cargo Sales Charges to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority is completely out of order.

“The enforcement of statutory penalties and the recovery of debts owed to regulatory agencies remain the exclusive statutory mandate of the Federal Government and its empowered institutions, and the Nigerian Labour Congress and its allies have clearly overstepped their bounds.”

ART also stated, “The rules of engagement and understanding of issues must drive how unions fight or advocate for a cause, not through the use of coercion, intimidation, or disruption.

“These actions directly contravene core tenets of Nigerian law designed to protect critical national infrastructure.

“Under Section 29 of the Civil Aviation Act, all services facilitating safe flight operations, passenger embarkation, and cargo handling within aerodromes are explicitly designated as essential services, strictly prohibiting strikes, lockouts, pickets, blockades, or service disruptions of any kind within regulated aviation facilities.”

Meanwhile, Director General of NCAA, Captain Chris Najomo, earlier called on the unions to suspend the picketing, but members of the unions who spoke to newsmen said they would hold a meeting to review the disruption after they left the terminals about 2pm.

It was not clear whether the unions would continue the strike today, as some of them threatened they would picket another airline from today.

But insiders said it was a face-saving statement because they could not explain why they chose to picket only one airline when almost all the airlines were indebted to NCAA and majority of the airlines’ workers were not in the unions.