N25bn aviation dispute puts airline revenues, passenger confidence at risk 

A battle over an alleged N25 billion in unpaid aviation charges has moved from negotiation tables to airport terminals, grounding flights and exposing the heavy economic cost of industrial action in Nigeria’s aviation industry.

Air Peace bore the brunt of the disruption on August 11, when aviation unions shut down about 70 of its flights over alleged non-remittance of the 5 percent Ticket Sales Charge and claims that workers were being denied freedom of association. United Nigeria Airlines subsequently suspended more than 30 flights in solidarity with the carrier.

More than 1,200 passengers were reportedly stranded in Lagos and Abuja. Air Peace said it lost more than N2 billion in revenue within 48 hours.

The unions, led by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), with backing from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), insist that the action was necessary after repeated attempts to resolve their grievances failed.

The dispute is anchored on an alleged N25 billion outstanding Ticket Sales Charge across airlines, with more than N15 billion attributed to Air Peace. The unions also demanded an end to what they describe as restrictions on workers’ right to join unions without intimidation or victimisation.

Those claims place legitimate questions of regulatory compliance and labour rights at the centre of the confrontation. Yet the economic consequences of the industrial action are proving harder to ignore. When the pursuit of workers’ welfare grounds aircraft, disrupts passengers, and threatens airline revenues, the aviation industry is left confronting how much economic damage is acceptable in the pursuit of a legitimate labour demand.

The unions say their action did not come suddenly….