Following a week of suspended flights brought on by a labour dispute, Aero Contractors’ attempt to resume operations yesterday was aborted by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
However, the spokesman of NCAA, Fan Ndubuoke, told THISDAY that the regulatory body did not ground the operations of the airline as speculated, but had in line with aviation sector rules, instructed Aero Contractors to carry out a re-evaluation exercise of its aircraft before resumption of flights.
Ndubuoke explained that when an airline stops flights even for a day, the rules stipulate that whenever it wants to resume operations, its aircraft must be re-evaluated.
“NCAA did not ground Aero Contractors. Aero wrote to NCAA saying that it was suspending operations because of the labour dispute with its workers. But before Aero resumes, re-evaluation must be carried out.
“That is what NCAA is insisting on doing, so I am sure it knows what it has to do and I think the re-evaluation is ongoing now,” Ndubuoke explained.
He said that as soon as Aero completed the exercise, the airline would be given the all clear to resume operations and that could be as soon as today, “since the airline would be meeting with the management of NCAA this morning.”
Aero suspended all its domestic and regional flights on March 13 after its workers protested the company’s plan to outsource some of their jobs.
The protest led to the sack of about 600 workers and has cost Aero Contractors an estimated N800 million in revenue.
The protest led to the sack of about 600 workers and has cost Aero Contractors an estimated N800 million in revenue.
The workers had demanded the sack of the company’s Head of Human Resources, Tope Fagbemi, alleging that he was responsible for what they described as the draconian policy introduced by the airline to outsource some of the jobs in the organisation.
By the close of business yesterday, the workers were still protesting at the domestic terminal of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, demanding that the airline’s management should rescind the sack and withdraw their termination letters.
The aviation sector’s labour unions on Tuesday also wrote an open letter to NCAA, alleging that if Aero Contractors resumed flights, it might compromise on safety, as the airline did not have sufficient workers to effectively carry out safe operations.
Meanwhile, sources in the industry told THISDAY last night that the current acting managing director of the airline, Mr. Obaro Ibru will soon be replaced as the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) is shopping for new managing director.
They said that AMCON had come to the realisation that Ibru lacked the capacity to effectively run an airline the size of Aero Contractors, and was on the lookout for a replacement in the next few weeks.
But when contacted, an official of AMCON denied moves to replace Ibru, stating that it shall work with the current management till further notice.
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