Air Peace has resumed flight operations after aviation unions disrupted its services at some of the airline’s major stations across the country on Tuesday.
The airline’s spokesperson, Efe Whiskey, confirmed this to PUNCH Online in a telephone interview, saying flights had commenced despite the unions’ picketing of the airline’s facilities.
“We are operating flights already. Flights will operate today irrespective of the situation,” Whiskey said.
He said the unions picketed Air Peace operations in Lagos, Enugu and Abuja, which he described as major hubs for the airline.
“The unions picketed our operations across board — Lagos, Enugu, Abuja. However, at some other stations, they were not able to go. Stopping those places, which are our hubs, those places where we do night stops, basically grounded all our operations,” he said.
Whiskey alleged that the action was targeted at Air Peace because its employees had declined to join the unions.
He said the unions also accused the airline of owing five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC), but maintained that Air Peace had already remitted the money to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
“They wanted to picket us because we are not joining their union. They stated that we are owing them a five per cent TSC. But we’ve already paid that to the regulatory body, which is NCAA. So, we don’t even know why they are picketing us,” he said.
According to Whiskey, the airline had anticipated the possibility of being picketed after its Chairman raised concerns about the planned action in a media report published the previous week.
He also questioned why Air Peace was singled out when the unions had announced plans to picket Nigerian airlines generally.
“These people stated that they were going to picket all Nigerian airlines. However, the likes of Ibom Air, Enugu Air, even Aero, operated flights today. And you solely picked on only Air Peace, disrupting flights, first flight out of Lagos, Abuja and Enugu,” he said.
The spokesperson maintained that Air Peace had been making payments to the unions and insisted that the airline’s refusal to join them was the main reason for the picketing.
“We’ve been paying these unions. We’ve been paying them. So, why did you single out Air Peace? The reason why they are singling out Air Peace is that Air Peace staff, number one, don’t want to join the unions,” he said.
Whiskey said Air Peace employees had previously staged a peaceful protest to express their opposition to joining the unions but alleged that the demonstration was later disrupted.
He said some individuals allegedly infiltrated the protest and engaged in a confrontation with the airline’s employees.
“We came out to protest peacefully, but unfortunately, they hampered our operations,” he said.
Whiskey further said Air Peace remained opposed to joining the unions, noting that some legacy carriers, including Arik and Aero, were already members.
“The only airlines that have joined are the legacy carriers within Nigeria, which are Arik and Aero, which have existed more than Air Peace. So, yes, we are stating that we are not going to, and we are still standing that we are not going to join,” he said.
The development followed industrial action by aviation unions, which disrupted flight operations at some airports and left passengers stranded across the country.
The dispute centres on the remittance of the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge, with the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) earlier issuing notices to airlines over alleged outstanding payments.
In a July 28 notice, the unions gave affected airlines a seven-day ultimatum to settle the alleged outstanding charges, warning that failure to comply could result in picketing.
The unions commenced the picketing in the early hours of Tuesday, disrupting Air Peace operations at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
Air Peace has, however, confirmed that its flight operations have resumed despite the disruption.
