Follow Us on Google
•Confirm 10% repayment plan with NCAA
Domestic operators have dismissed the 14-day ultimatum issued by the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) to the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) over the unremitted Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
A source within the airline body who spoke to Daily Sun on condition of anonymity insisted that ATSSSAN and NUATE have no legal standing to threaten any form disruption of operations over the matter as according to them, the unions are not official spokespersons for the NCAA or for any aviation agency.
Daily Sun reliably gathered that prior to the ultimatum given by the unions, the AON had a meeting with the management of the NCAA where it was agreed by both parties that the airlines will pay 10 percent out of the outstanding TSC’s and subsequently pay the balance in installments.
Daily Sun also understands that some airlines have already begun remitting the agreed percentage to the NCAA while others are in the process of making their payment.
The source also added that any industrial action taken on the strength of the ultimatum would be unlawful, given that the dispute, if any, is between the airlines and the regulatory agencies, not between the airlines and labour unions.
“These unions do not speak for the NCAA or any of the agencies for that matter unless they are telling us otherwise. It is very curious that a group of people who are not a party to a business transaction would start issuing threats to disrupt operations.
They are not a party to any commercial relationship with the airlines, and they are not acting on behalf of the government. The airlines have already engaged directly with the NCAA and reached an understanding on a structured repayment plan for outstanding remittances. That process is ongoing. We will resist any attempt by third parties who have no contractual or statutory relationship with us to disrupt our operations.
“Already, airlines are paying tons of charges, levies and taxes on a regular basis to the NCAA and other agencies and that is besides what we pay for fuel. Nigerian airlines are suffocating and practically gasping for breath, yet, instead of showing empathy, they are being threatened with the disruption of their operations,” the source said.
ATSSSAN and NUATE had on July 8 issued a 14-day ultimatum to domestic airlines demanding the immediate remittance of outstanding 5% TSC owed to the NCAA. In a letter addressed to the Chairman of the AON and signed by the General Secretary of ATSSSAN, Frances Akinjole, and the Deputy General Secretary of NUATE, Odinaka Igbokwe, the unions gave the AON 14 days from the date of issue to settle all outstanding remittances in full and warned that failure to comply will leave the unions with no alternative but to “employ every means necessary to protect the sector.”
This followed the weeks of friction between the NCAA and the AON when an internal memo from the NCAA was leaked in May, reportedly signed by the authority’s Director of Finance and Accounts, Olufemi Odukoya, directing the suspension of services to airlines with outstanding remittances under a “no-pay-no-service” arrangement. Days later, the NCAA announced a temporary suspension of that directive, citing ongoing consultations and rising aviation fuel costs, but stressed that the suspension was not a waiver of the debts and that airlines remained responsible for settling its outstanding obligations.
The AON, in turn, rejected the NCAA’s description of the airlines as debtors. The association insisted that all regulatory services rendered by the NCAA are paid for in advance on a cash-before-service basis, and argued that what the NCAA describes as outstanding charges relates only to the 5% TSC which it insists is a tax on passengers rather than payment for any service rendered to the airlines directly.
Speaking to Daily Sun on condition of anonymity citing concerns that they could be singled out for victimisation, a union source said they intend to pursue the matter strategically rather than allow any one official to be targeted. The source confirmed to Daily Sun that the unions are aware of the agreement the AON has with the NCAA on repayment and also confirmed that some airlines have begun paying theirs. The airlines which have made payment, the source said, would not be affected by any actions that would be taken by the unions when the ultimatum elapses.
Asked whether the unions were entitled to withdraw services given that any dispute over the TSC is between the airlines and the regulatory agencies rather than between airlines and their own staff, the source maintained that workers who generate an agency’s revenue and are not being paid because that revenue has not been remitted are directly affected.
The source pushed back against the AON’s position that the unions have no legal standing in the matter, insisting that they are social partners with the agencies and not outsiders to the industry and where management cannot meet its obligations to staff welfare because airlines owe the agencies, the source said, it becomes a matter of the workers’ responsibility to withdraw their services to force payment.
“NCAA has been unable to implement its own approved conditions of service for staff, and has fallen behind on refresher and safety-related training for personnel, partly because of the funding shortfall linked to unremitted charges. Don’t forget that many of our members are also ground handlers, air traffic controllers, security officials, etc and we have the support of close to 90 percent of the membership of the unions involved, “ the source said.
