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The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, has cautioned aviation unions against carrying out their threat to picket Nigerian airlines, stressing that domestic carriers have no dispute with organised labour.
He alleged that vested interests are attempting to use industrial action to further their own agenda at the expense of an already fragile aviation industry.
Onyema spoke on Wednesday in Lagos during an interview with aviation journalists at the public presentation of “Pathways, Pilgrimage and Destiny,” the biography of Medview Airlines founder, Muneer Bankole.
Responding to the unions’ warning that airlines allegedly owing the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) outstanding Ticket Sales Charges (TSC) would be picketed, Onyema maintained that the airlines’ engagement is strictly with the NCAA, not the unions.
He said domestic operators have consistently honoured invitations from the regulator and have continued to comply with its directives whenever issues arise, insisting that there is no conflict between the airlines and organised labour to warrant any industrial action.
He said: “This is an aberration; it has never happened before. If we have a problem with the civil aviation authority, we discuss it. We have no problems with the NCAA.
Whenever they call us, we answer them.
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Whenever they need anything from us, we provide it. Airlines in Nigeria are operating under very excruciating circumstances.
Even IATA has said so. It is very difficult for any airline to survive in this country, and we are treating this kind of statement from IATA with grave concern. IATA said this at an international conference held far away, abroad.
‘We don’t have any business with any union. We have business with the NCAA, and we have been complying with everything the NCAA has directed us to do. So, if they want to shut down the industry, we are waiting for them. If they want to shut down the industry, they can go ahead and do it. And if they picket any airline, others will follow because there is no need for that. Definitely, there is no need for that.
“Nowhere in the world does a government agency use a union to address issues of debt. Some of us have had 56 bird strikes in one year, yet we pay for the equipment to be provided. Part of the money we pay is meant to fund certain infrastructure. Now, if that infrastructure is not provided, and airlines keep losing revenue as a result, then airlines may say they owe money to fuel vendors or other providers. Then union members will go and picket the airlines, claiming it is because bird strikes prevented the airlines from making enough money to pay them and so the union will now come and destroy us.
I have never heard of such a thing before. These airlines borrow money at 30–33% interest, and all everybody wants is to collect money from them. Nobody cares about the survival of these airlines. If they want to shut down the industry, we are waiting for them, because we have said this again and again.
“If anyone thinks they can use a union to intimidate airlines in this country, they are wasting their time. The airlines are already struggling. The most patriotic Nigerians can be found in the airline industry. We are doing this job unrewarded and unsung. People don’t appreciate what these airlines are doing. We are operating under the harshest conditions in the world. I am waiting to see who allows themselves to be used, because the airlines are ready. Let them come. Let them bring it on and try to shut the airlines down. Let the unions come and tell the world what business they have with us. If this is how it is done anywhere else in the world, let us see it.
“They are even writing to airlines and calling them all manner of names. This is a bad precedent that is being set, and we are waiting. We are not intimidated. If they want to picket airlines, this is a matter of safety. If they want to breach safety in this country, then the world is watching, and we are calling on the world to watch what is happening here. Unions are being used to demean airlines. They have been calling us names and saying all manner of things, no problem. Let them bring it on; there is no need to issue threats. If they want to come and destroy the airlines, let them do it. We will all go home. We will release hundreds of thousands of staff to the public, and let all of them become jobless. There is no problem if that is the best way to solve this issue. The airlines have been answering the calls of the minister. The airlines have been answering the calls of the Director-General of the NCAA. The airlines have been cooperating, listening to them and doing the best they can under the circumstances. If anyone feels that unions should be used to intimidate airlines, I wish them well.”
