The House Committee Chairman on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji has appealed to airlines and private organizations within the aviation sector not to abandon their staff in this period of uncertainties occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic.

Nnaji who represents Nkanu East/West Federal Constituency of Enugu State said he was disturbed by the memo issued to its staff by Max Air to the effect that it would not pay them salaries for the period of the two weeks lockdown directive by the Federal Government.

He noted that “the memo which has now gone viral further stressed that the state  of no pay would extend if the situation persisted and my major worry is that other organizations may do the same if care is not taken.”

Nnaji, however, appealed to the management of the airline to reconsider this hard-line posture by retracing its action in this regard and equally urged other organizations in the sector to see this trying period as a time of sacrifice and show extreme compassion to their staff.

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“I am aware that elsewhere, governments are providing palliatives for employers of labour to cushion the impact of this pandemic but because of our peculiar circumstances the Federal Government may not immediately offer such at the moment,” he said.

Nnaji said he was optimistic that some form of relief would definitely come at the end of the day to assist the airlines.

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He also urged Hadi Sariki, the Minister of Aviation, to step in and hold talks with the various stakeholders in the industry to avoid ripple effects of Max Air’s action.

The Committee Chairman also used the opportunity to call for understanding among the people and leaders of the South East Region over the aborted reopening of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA) Enugu before Easter as planned.

Nnaji lamented that the development was caused by the COVID19 pandemic which has forced the workers of both the contractor and consultants to handle the project out of site.

The aviation committee chairman assured that as soon as the prevailing pandemic died down works would resume at an accelerated speed and new date of commissioning of the airport would be unveiled.

Nnaji was equally full of praises for the Governor of Enugu State Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for the way and manner he has mobilised materials and human resources to curtail the spread of coronavirus in Enugu.

He also urged the citizens of the state to cooperate with the Enugu State government by sticking to the instruction given on Stay at home and social distancing.

Ifeoma Okeke-Korieocha is the Aviation Correspondent at BusinessDay Media Limited, publishers of BusinessDay Newspapers. She is also the Deputy Editor, BusinessDay Weekender Magazine, the Saturday Weekend edition of BusinessDay. She holds a BSC in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Masters degree in Marketing at the University of Lagos. As the lead writer on the aviation desk, Ifeoma is responsible and in charge of the three weekly aviation and travel pages in BusinessDay and BDSunday. She also overseas and edits all pages of BusinessDay Saturday Weekender. She has written various investigative, features and news stories in aviation and business related issues and has been severally nominated for award in the category of Aviation Writer of the Year by the Nigeria Media Nite-Out awards; one of the Nigeria’s most prestigious media awards ceremonies. Ifeoma is a one-time winner of the prestigious Nigeria Media Merit Award under the 'Aviation Writer of the Year' Category. She is the 2025 Eloy Award winner under the Print Media Journalist category. She has undergone several journalism trainings by various prestigious organisations. Ifeoma is also a fellow of the Female Reporters Leadership Fellowship of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism.

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