Unions cry out to AMCON to rescue Aero from bankruptcy

National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) have cried to the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) to which Nigeria’s oldest airline, Aero Contractors, is in receivership to rescue the carrier from the brink of bankruptcy.

In a letter to the managing director of AMCON by the two workers’ unions, dated January 4, 2016, signed by Olayinka Abioye, acting secretary general of NUATE, and Olurotimi Kehinde, secretary general for ATSSSAN, titled, “Aero Contractors Company Nigeria must not die – save our souls from the orchestrated plot to plunder/kill Aero Contractors,” they stated that as a veritable watchdogs, “We are constrained to cry out to your good office, to rescue the Aero Contractors from the brink of bankruptcy consciously being manipulated by some powerful cabal of the company.”

They vowed to give a blow-by-blow account of what they termed the insidious crimes being perpetrated in the company with graphic details and photocopy of evidences to establish their claims, where necessary.

The duo of Abioye and Kehinde pleaded with AMCON managing director to use his good office to intervene or investigate these matters urgently, as they might be compelled to draw the attention of the Federal Government and other international partners on the avalanche of questionable deals being daily perpetrated by the Board and their collaborators in Aero management.

Aero is Nigeria’s oldest airline set up in 1959, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Schreiner Airways B.V of the Netherlands.

In 1973, the Oteri Holding became the exclusive partner with a 40 percent stake in CAN and grew into a 60 percent ownership stake in 1976, anticipating the requirements of the Nigerian Indigenous Decree, Canadian Helicopter Company (CHC) bought over Schreiner interest in Africa and became the major shareholder and managing partner for Aero. The CHC was thereby responsible for the day-to-day management of the company.

ATSSSAN in the letter said CHC took over the company when Aero had old propeller air planes and few helicopters but came in with 25 helicopters, seven Dash 8 and four Boeing 737 aircraft, describing it as the peak of the airline’s operations with multiple contracts running hitch free because the company had enough spare parts in its stores worth several millions of naira.

Alleging underhand dealings that has made the carrier a shadow of its former self, the union said Oceanic Capital used Aero’s name to take a loan from defunct Oceanic Bank and transferred same to Oceanic Capital, which went on to purchase some planes and leased them back to Aero through Oceanic Leasing Company.

According to the group, “This can be confirmed on the tag printed on the plane clearly stating Oceanic Capital as the owner of the plane. It was this loan that almost killed Aero not CHC as been speculated.”

“This loan was allegedly used to purchase seven B737-500from Arizona at an average cost of s$12million each, but from the website of the firm from where the aircraft were purchased, they were going for about $4 million each. From records, a total of seven airplanes were purchased, but only six were received by Aero from Oceanic Capital on lease. Aero was paying a lease rate to Oceanic Capital monthly which almost wrecked the company and made CHC to withdraw as technical partner and took away all their equipment.”

The group further disclosed that when Oceanic was taken over by ECOBANK because of the massive fraud they were involved in, all document “relating to the deal were destroyed and the debt transferred to Aero”, adding that the new investors were not willing to accommodate the debts of Aero because they were controversial and toxic.

In order to keep the airline going, they stated that AMCON took over the loans of Aero from Ecobank at an undisclosed discounted rate and made a decision to invest in the airline to turn its fortune around.

The union in a document made available to reporters alleged N226 million was paid in the name of Austen Peters and Co. and the money transferred to Alpine Gates Company for alleged negotiated settlement fee to AMCON as consultancy fee.

“On further investigation, it was discovered that this money was not just being siphoned from Aero in the name of consultancy fees and passed back to beneficiaries of AMCON. $250, 000 00 was paid twice in favour of Bayo- Negotiation Finalisation of restructuring of AMCON and was also reflected on our invoices as general vendor for consultancy fee. These monies were taken away by AMCON staff even while the company was undergoing serious cash crunch.”