Passengers were left stranded in Abuja and Lagos on Tuesday as aviation unions shut down operations of Air Peace over allegations that the airline was frustrating workers’ unionisation and withholding ticket sales charges owed to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.
This was as an Air Peace driver may also face prosecution after allegedly driving a large bus onto the airside during a picketing exercise by aviation unions that grounded about 70 flights on Tuesday.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority confirmed the incident and said the driver could face prosecution over the action, which allegedly obstructed movement within the airside and forced the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria to tow the vehicle away.
NCAA Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, said the authority had ordered that the driver be identified and arrested.
The NCAA publicist said, “During the enforcement of the picketing, a driver drove the large bus to the runway, parked and left the place. We have ordered that the driver in question be identified and arrested for onward prosecution. How can somebody block the runway? That is seriously uncalled for. We will investigate, and the necessary portions of the Act will be invoked.”
When asked why the driver had blocked the runway, Air Peace spokesman, Efe Whiskey-Osifo, dismissed the allegation, saying the bus never blocked the runway.
The incident occurred as the National Union of Air Transport Employees, Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, backed by the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, commenced picketing of Air Peace over alleged non-remittance of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge and claims that the airline was frustrating workers’ attempts to unionise.
The industrial action disrupted flights in Lagos, Abuja and Enugu, leaving passengers stranded and grounding about 70 flights. A NUATE official who confided in one of our correspondents said the total TSC debt allegedly owed by members of the Airline Operators of Nigeria stood at about N25bn, with Air Peace accounting for approximately N15bn.
The official said, “There’s a meeting between the airline operators association. You are aware of the cause of the strike: TSC issues amounting to about N25bn. The total accrued to AON is N25bn.
“Air Peace is having the highest amount of N15bn, and secondly, they are denying airline workers of organising and to form unions, which is a fundamental right. Those are the two things that we are fighting for.”
The unions had threatened to picket Air Peace after issuing three warnings to airlines over the alleged non-remittance of the charge.
Five per cent Ticket Sales Charge is a percentage paid by passengers on every ticket bought from airlines. Aviation law provides that airlines collect the money and remit it to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority to be shared among agencies to meet operational needs.
Air Peace, however, rejected the allegations, insisting that it had remitted the five per cent TSC to the NCAA and questioning why its operations were singled out for disruption. Air Peace spokesperson, Efe Whiskey-Osifo, said the unions targeted the airline’s major operational hubs in Lagos, Abuja and Enugu, effectively paralysing its network.
He lamented that, “The unions picketed our operations across board. Lagos, Enugu, Abuja, stopping those places, which are our hubs, those places where we do night stops. So they basically grounded all our operations.”
“They stated that they were going to picket all Nigerian airlines. However, the likes of Ibom Air, Enugu Air, even Aero, operated flights today. And you solely picked on only Air Peace, disrupting flights, the first flight out of Lagos, Abuja, and Enugu.”
He further claimed that Air Peace workers had deliberately chosen not to belong to the unions. “The reason why they are singling out Air Peace is that Air Peace staff, number one, don’t want to join the unions. We don’t want to join at all,” he said.
Whiskey-Osifo said workers had staged a peaceful protest against unionisation but alleged that union members later infiltrated the demonstration and caused a confrontation. “We came out to protest peacefully, but unfortunately, they hampered our operations,” he said.
The unions, however, maintained that the right of workers to organise was non-negotiable. They said the AON had appealed for the picketing to be suspended to allow for a meeting with the affected airlines, particularly Air Peace, whose chairman is also a top executive of the AON.
“The AON pleaded with the unions to suspend it while they schedule a meeting, especially with Air Peace management,” the NCAA spokesperson further said. He added that the unions had been informed that a meeting could take place on Wednesday.
Achimugu said the industrial action affected several airlines operating from particular terminals in Lagos and Abuja. “I know that a number of airlines operating from specific terminals in Lagos and Abuja were disrupted. Take, for instance, in Abuja, a terminal that was shut down; it affected airlines like Air Peace, Aero and a host of others.”
By Tuesday evening, Air Peace said it had begun restoring its operations. “We are operating flights already. Flights will operate today irrespective of the situation,” the airline said.
Also, The PUNCH observed that operations had resumed on a skeletal basis, particularly from Lagos.
