Several air passengers around Nigeria have been put through a really difficult time as Labour shut down Arik Air operations.
Arik Air
Air passengers were stranded at airports across the country
yesterday, following crippling of Arik Air’s operations by protesting
unions, Vanguard reports.
The National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, the Air
Transport Senior Staff Services Association of Nigeria, ATSSSAN, and the
National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, NAAPE, had
embarked on the protest due to the airline’s inability to pay its
workers seven months salaries and other anti-labour practices.
Meantime, the unions that grounded the operations of the airline
were yesterday said to have agreed to shelve the strike following the
intervention of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA. The regulatory
authority brokered a meeting between the unions and Arik Air top
management.
A communiqué issued after the meeting was signed for Arik Air by
Deputy Managing Director, Capt. Ado Sanusi, Associated Vice President,
Treasury, Arik Air, Mr. Garuba Akeem, while Comrade Ocheme Aba, Comrade
Francis Akinjole and Olayinka Abioye of NAAPE, ATSSSAN and NUATE
respectively signed for the unions.
Also, Capt Abdullahi Sidi, Director, Operations and Training who
represented the Director-General of NCAA, signed for the authority. The
communiqué said Arik Air has undertaken to pay the outstanding salaries,
including October and November, 2016 salaries before the end of the
year
Before the truce, passengers who had bought tickets online and were
billed to travel yesterday couldn’t as a result of the protest. Many of
the visibly angry passengers swore never to patronise the airline again
because of its penchant for moving from one crisis to another.
A passenger in Lagos who simply identified himself as Ikechukwu,
said Arik Air had forced him to spend about N70, 000 on tickets to fly
to the east, lamenting that the flight was cancelled on Monday, only for
him to report to the airport yesterday to meet a disheartening
situation.
“I have no choice; I will have to go by road because I do not
have any more money. I will never patronize Arik Air again. Why all
these crises?
‘’Last week, it was London passengers; today, domestic
passengers, and no consideration for passengers and their business that
suffer,” Ikechukwu fumed.
Another female passenger who angrily told Vanguard to call her
any name, said Arik Air had ruined her day as she had serious business
to transact in Abuja.
“I have gone to the other airlines’ counters but they are full. I cannot stand such crowd; I have resolved to go by road,’’ she lamented.
The airline’s international flights were also affected. An elderly
passenger who told Vanguard to advise Arik Air owner to always take the
interest of passengers to heart before fighting workers who make the
airline survive, said until passengers started instituting legal actions
against airline owners, they would not learn.
“How can this man ruin my business today, I will not buy their tickets again ,” he swore.
Reports from Abuja, Benin, Port Harcourt and all other routes flown
by the airline indicated a similar situation. Another passenger,
Tomisin Olukare, said she bought a one-way ticket from Lagos to Abuja
for N42, 000 three days ago.
“I came this morning and there is nobody to attend to me and my
flight was supposed to leave by 10:00 a.m., so I am really confused,” she said.
Chika Emmanuel, yet another passenger, said an agent assisted her
to buy an Air Peace ticket for Abuja immediately she sensed that there
was going to be a disruption in Arik Air operations.
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