Air Peace says it has lost over N500m to aviation handling company strike

Air Peace, one of Nigeria’s largest airlines, has disclosed that the ongoing strike by staff of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company PLC, (NAHCO) has cost the airline over 500 million naira, adding that the industrial action has paralysed its operations across its large network.

In a news release issued on Monday, January 23, 2023, the management of the airline, stated that the ground handling company did not pre-inform them about the strike nor was a public notice issued.

“Neither NAHCO nor the striking union informed us of an impending strike. Our staff reported to work and noticed an ongoing industrial action. If we were informed beforehand, we would have conveyed the same to our passengers early enough.

“Now, all morning flights and other subsequent flights have been disrupted- cancelled, delayed and rescheduled. This has cost us over 500 million naira as we operate over 100 flights daily. Passengers are also attacking our ground staff as they cannot fly.

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“We have notified the flying public of the strike but it is important to stress again that the action is by the staff of NAHCO, not Air Peace. It is an action against the Management of NAHCO, and Air Peace has nothing to do with it.

“While we monitor the situation and hope things return to normal soon, we regret the impact of the disruptions on the travel plans of our passengers and implore them to desist from assaulting our staff. We are not responsible for the disruptions”, the airline stated.

Aviation unions consisting of the National Union of Air Transport Employees and Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria last week gave a five – day notice of strike to NAHCO management citing slow progress in negotiation for salary review.

The company had asked that accelerated negotiation be continued in February to enable the company to stabilise from the financial effect of its recent promotions.

The unions however gave the notice of strike prompting the management of the company to seek for court intervention to prevent the industrial action but the unions were said to have walked out of the international airport on Monday morning, saying they were on strike and will not attend to any passenger.