Labour unions in the Nigerian aviation industry have jointly written an open letter to President Bola Tinubu on the grounding of Arik Air’s aircraft by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), urging the President to intervene and review the consequences of shutting down the operations of the airline.
The unions which included the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), expressed dismay over the grounding of the airline’s fleet.
In the open letter dated August 1, 2024, signed by Ocheme Aba, General Secretary, NUATE; Frances Akinjole, Principal Deputy General Secretary, ATSSSAN, and Olayinka Abioye, General Secretary, NAAPE, made available to THISDAY, the unions said they were shocked by the grounding of the operations of the airline over the indebtedness between Arthur Eze and Johnson Arumemi-Ikhide, the founder of Arik Air.
The unions also stated that the aircraft in question belonged to secured creditors as lien and wondered how such equipment could be taken over by another creditor.
They argued that the aircraft could not have been used as writ for the loan.
According to the unions, the action created anguish and severe frustration among Arik’s passengers and had exacerbated the present air travel challenges in the country....[CONTINUE READING HERE ▶▶]
The unions also stated that no fewer than 2,000 direct staff of the airline would be affected, while no fewer than 16,000 dependents would also face the current hardship of the grounding of the airline by the agency.
“Under the current severe socio-economic upheavals, throwing such large numbers of citizens into economic quagmire can only worsen the forbearance strains.
“This is apart from losses of the other third party vendors and service providers – airports, aviation agencies, ground handlers, fuellers, caterers and many more. This will also have a significant negative impact on the earnings of aviation agencies.
“Against the background of the negative consequences of the earlier similar grounding of Dana Air for which the industry is still counting the losses, we consider this avoidable situation to be truly worrisome,” the statement said.
