• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

Revenue losses loom in aviation sector over union’s protests

Passengers stranded as unions block airport roads

Aviation stakeholders have said if the activities of unions in the sector are not properly monitored and regulated, operators will suffer more losses, worsening the already troubled sector.

This concern is coming after the aviation unions on Tuesday morning blocked the entrance gates to the Murtala Mohammed Airport Terminal Two, (MMA2), hindering passengers from gaining access into the terminal to catch their flights.

The unions said they were expressing their grievances over the alleged treatment of their members by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services (BASL), the manager of MMA2. They accused Bi-Courtney of terminating the employment of 34 of its members without due process.

The situation caused uproar at the airport premises, as airlines had to delay and reschedule flights, losing millions of naira in the process. Airlines also had to relocate their operations to an alternate terminal, the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) to carry out their operations.

The chief commercial officer of an airline who craved anonymity said airlines had been struggling with aviation fuel and foreign exchange crises in recent months, adding that the unions had continued to disrupt flight operations, worsening the already bad situation.

He said: “Why should the tenants at MMA2 (airlines) and passengers suffer because of a dispute with BASL? The law allows picketing, not blocking access to the terminal or to those areas that passengers need access to. In fact, some workers of BASL who are not union members or who decide not to join the pickets should be allowed to go about their lawful duty unhindered.

“Unfortunately, unions have learnt rascality and lawlessness as their own modus operandi. That’s why Margaret Thatcher dealt with them during the miner strike in the 80s and they’ve never tried that again. We need someone like her in Nigeria to read the riot act to the unions here. There are rules and laws being broken every day.”

He said the unions will soon come after the airline operators for not paying salaries to workers after disrupting their operations and making them lose money that could have been used to pay some employees.

BusinessDay’s findings show that this is not the first time the unions have had to shut down airport terminals, as a way to express their grievances – a situation that has left passengers stranded and airlines losing huge revenues.

In September 2022, the aviation unions left passengers stranded across airports as they protested against the anti-labour clauses in the new aviation bills currently awaiting the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari.

In May, aviation unions picketed four agencies and ground flight operations in Lagos as it embarked on a two-day warning strike over the non-implementation of the minimum wage consequential adjustment.

The grievances of the unions, which sometimes are not caused by the airlines, end up affecting airlines operations and passengers, thereby leading to revenue losses.

Stakeholders say if the activities of the unions are not curtailed, the aviation sector and airlines may lose more revenues.

George Uriesi, chief operating officer of Ibom Air, in an interview with BusinessDay, highlighted the consequences of the last labour action in MM2 on Tuesday.

He said: “For starters, my airline had 31 flights scheduled for today (Tuesday), 98 percent of them either originating, terminating or linked to an originating flight from Lagos. This meant that we disrupted the programmes of approximately 1,900 paid-up passengers. Only God knows how to fully quantify this in not just economic, but also trauma terms.

Read also: MMA2 picketing: Airlines relocate to another terminal

“For us the airline, a lot of the catering ordered, paid for and delivered for our flights today (Tuesday) is now wasted (due to perishability). We were forced to reschedule at least 1,000 already booked and confirmed passengers on other flights from tomorrow (Wednesday), costing us heavily in lost revenue (having to remove seats from sales inventory) and wasted man-hours, while placing severe and unnecessary pressure on the system. We also had to organise (at considerable additional cost, not to mention huge inconvenience) to operate in and out of GAT,” Uriesi said.

He said the service providers and ground handlers, among others, also suffered losses.

“We cannot and should not just keep on dusting these things off and carrying on as if nothing untoward happened. We need to change direction. We need to find a way to shed our old skin and move forward,” he said.

Sindy Foster, principal managing partner at Avaero Capital Partners, who also condemned the actions of the unions, said it is standard that striking union members are not permitted to obstruct the entry and exit to employers’ places of business.

“Are the laws different in Nigeria? I have never heard that industrial action allows you to block entrances to places of work. Can 30 union members disrupt all other workers who have not chosen to participate or support the strike?” Foster said.

She said in certain circumstances, unions may delay the entry and exit to a place of business for a few minutes to hand out leaflets and information, but a union can never blockade an employer’s premises and prevent it from doing business.