Air Peace, Nigeria’s largest Airline, said it lost over N60 million to the disruption of its operations by members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), insisting it was the target of the disruption as other airlines were spared.
The NLC and TUC members had as early as 7:00am stormed the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), to disrupt flights operations for four hours with thousands of passengers stranded.
The strike negates earlier assurance by the aviation unions which had earlier said the airspace would not be shut as a result of the national delegates’ conference of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) taking place in Asaba, Delta state.
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NUATE, the Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSAN), the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) and Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) in a joint statement had said the general strike will commence effectively in the aviation sector on Tuesday October 2nd.
But surprisingly, the NLC members stormed the General Aviation Terminal of MMA on Friday morning where Arik Air, Air Peace and Overland operate to disrupt their flights.
The disruption almost degenerated into fisticuffs when the staff of Air Peace put up a resistance even as angry passengers also joined the fray querying the rationale behind the union’s action.
Air Peace operates more than 80 flights daily on its domestic and regional routes.
Speaking with newsmen on Friday, Air Peace Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Allen Onyema, insisted the Airline was the target of the picketing, saying other airlines operating in the terminal were spared.
Our correspondent also reports that the disruption did not extend to the MMA 2 private terminal operated by Bi-Courtney Aviation Service Limited (BASL).
Onyema said with the disruption that lasted four hours, its operations on Friday would extend to 3:30 a.m, describing the development as selective disruption.
According to him, some elements bent on pulling down the airline were responsible for the disruption.
He said, “Who is after Air Peace? Who is afraid of Air Peace? They went after us using the labour unions. Nobody went to MMA2. They shut down our operations for four hours. We have lost millions of Naira to what the NLC did.
“If they had stopped other airlines from operating, I would not have problem with that. They pushed our computer system, chased out our staff and I started making calls all over the country but nobody was on sight to intervene”.
Onyema said the intent of the shut down was to rubbish the airline in the mind of members of the flying public.