Two Nigerian airlines, Air Peace and United Nigeria, have reported combined losses exceeding N2 billion following the disruption of flight operations by a coalition of aviation workers’ unions on Tuesday. Nearly 100 flights were cancelled or delayed, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports.
The industrial action was staged by the National Union of Air Transport Employees, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, with support from the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress. Picketing began in the early hours of Tuesday and focused primarily on Air Peace, which the unions accused of holding the largest share of outstanding Ticket Sales Charge obligations.
Flights Grounded at Major Airports
The action grounded Air Peace operations at Lagos and Abuja airports, throwing travel plans into chaos. About 70 Air Peace flights were affected. United Nigeria suspended more than 30 of its own flights in solidarity with Air Peace.
A senior official of United Nigeria, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the disrupted services involved Boeing jets, CRJs, Embraer 190s and Embraer 145s. Two Boeing aircraft, each configured for 175 passengers, were scheduled to operate four sectors each. Two CRJs with capacity for about 90 passengers each were also due to fly four sectors. Two Embraer 190s (about 110 seats) and two Embraer 145s (about 50 seats) were expected to operate multiple sectors. By the airline’s estimate, United Nigeria alone would have carried around 1,200 passengers had the disruption not occurred.
Background to the Dispute
The unions had previously issued three stages of warnings, threatening to picket airlines that failed to remit the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority. They also alleged that some domestic carriers made it difficult for employees to join trade unions and that workers feared discrimination or victimisation if they expressed interest in membership.
Labour described Tuesday’s action as restrained, noting that the affected airlines had been given several weeks to address the grievances. The core of the dispute is the alleged non-remittance of the Ticket Sales Charge, which is intended to fund aviation agencies. The unions claim airlines have withheld funds already collected from passengers, thereby stalling the implementation of collective bargaining agreements for workers in those agencies.
Airlines Reject Allegations and Tally Losses
Air Peace rejected the unions’ claims and described the disruption as unlawful, violent and disproportionate. At a press conference on Wednesday, the airline’s Chief Operating Officer, Oluwatoyin Olajide, said the action had inflicted financial losses of more than N2 billion on Air Peace, in addition to the hardship suffered by passengers and staff.
With Air Peace putting its losses above N2 billion and United Nigeria reporting disruption to more than 30 flights, the combined financial impact of the industrial action is estimated at around N3 billion.
On the Ticket Sales Charge, Olajide argued that the issue was not unique to Air Peace. She cited public statements by the Director-General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority confirming that airlines, not Air Peace alone, were complying with the applicable payment directive. She questioned why Air Peace had been singled out for picketing if the matter was industry-wide.
Addressing the unionisation claim, Olajide said the overwhelming majority of Nigerian airlines are not unionised. She added that Air Peace employees had made it clear they did not wish to form a union within the company, a position she said was within their constitutional rights.
“If the issue is industry-wide, why was Air Peace singled out for violent and disruptive picketing? Over 98 per cent of Nigerian airlines do not have unions. The employees of Air Peace have made it abundantly clear that they do not wish to form any union within Air Peace. This is within their constitutional rights,” she said.
The episode highlights the ongoing tension between aviation labour groups and domestic carriers over statutory remittances and workers’ rights, with passengers bearing the immediate cost of the disruption.
