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The House of Representatives Committee Chairman on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji, has condemned the disruption of the flight operations of Air Peace on Wednesday by the officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC) and the Tade Union Congress (TUC).
The workers’ action which was in retaliation to the May Day face-off with the Governor of Imo State Hope Uzodinma caused disruption of flight operations.
Nnaji expressed disappointment that an issue that came up in Owerri could cause the leadership of trade unions to invade the Murtala Mohammed Airport, (MMA), Lagos and disrupt operations of privately owned businesses.
He reminded the workers that the newly promulgated Civil Aviation Acts (Sections 40 and 41) have categorised them under essential service providers stressing that by the new act, dialogue has become their only means of resolving disputes.
Nnaji equally expressed concern over the hardship Air Peace passengers had to go through and the attendant losses the airline incurred as a result of the incident.
He added that it is important for workers to appreciate the challenges confronting the industry especially the airlines, noting that the loss of over N700 million claimed by Air Peace due to the action is regrettable.
He urged the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) management to put up measures that would checkmate such occurrence in future even as he counselled the unions to avoid carrying out their grievances to airports in future.
Air Peace had on Wednesday accused the NLC and the TUC of deliberately disrupting its operations in its face off with the Imo State government.
The unions disrupted all flights to Owerri across airports in the country on Wednesday morning, leaving many passengers stranded.
The unions say, they embarked on the exercise over the disruptions to the Workers Day rally by thugs alleged to be agents of the state government.
The decision of the action tagged, “No Flight To Owerri” was reached Monday night at the end of an emergency joint central working committee meeting of the NLC and TUC.
The letter directed members in the aviation sector to paralyse flights to Imo State beginning from mid-night of Wednesday, May 3, 2023.
But the management of Air Peace said all their schedules including Owerri were affected and that while other airlines heading to Owerri were allowed to leave, Air Peace counters were not allowed to process other passengers to different destinations.
