AM EDITORIAL: Stakeholders Must Consider The Air Traveller When They Dispute
Aviation unions in Nigeria under the auspices of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) issued a seven day ultimatum, threatening to disrupt airline operations.
Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) dared the workers to shut down their operations.
On August 11, 2026, the unions implemented threat, picketing airport terminals and airlines, beginning with Air Peace and stopping airlines in Lagos and Abuja from operating flights.
Subject of dispute was the refusal of some airlines to allow union membership by their staff, non-remittances of 5% Ticket Sales Charges (TSC) and Cargo Sales Charges (CSC) to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) by some airlines as expected, among other issues.
The NCAA appealed to the unions to sheathe their swords and exercise restraint pending return of the Minister of Aviation & Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo (SAN), who recently disclosed that though airlines had started offsetting their huge debt to aviation agencies, they still owed millions in outstanding debt.
On August 11, 2026, innocent air travelers were stranded at the airports as the entire operational schedule of airlines were disrupted. In advanced climes, the law courts would feast on litigations around such crisis. The frustrated passengers would sue the airlines while the airlines would sue the labour unions and the circle continues.
Our position is that whatever happens, passengers should not be made to suffer the consequences of corporate disputes in Nigeria’s aviation industry. This abnormally that has persisted over the years has to stop if really, Nigeria’s aviation sector expects prosperity.
If the employees of an organization are in bed with their employer and have no form of dispute, whose industrial dispute justified shutting down their employer? Again, if an employer prevents its employees from exercising their lawful right to join a registered trade union, that is an industrial-relations matter and should be dealt with accordingly. Besides, there are more decent ways by which a workers’ union can persuade or compel employees of an organization to join them, rather than disruption of an entire industry operation and getting passengers stranded. What is the offence of the innocent air traveler allowed to suffer unnecessarily?
The TSC remittance is a statutory obligation administered and enforced by the regulator. If an airline fails to meet that obligation, there are regulatory and legal mechanisms available for dealing with it rather than unions disrupting industry operations. Yes, non-remittance of the TSC may ultimately affect the welfare and salaries of employees. That does not in any way turn workers’ unions into enforcement agents for a statutory obligation owed to the regulator.
Also, why did the airlines single out Air Peace for this disruption? The rules of engagement and understanding of issues must drive how unions fight or advocate for a cause, not through the use of coercion, intimidation, or disruption that eventually disrupts personal air travel plans of innocent air travellers.
Any airline perceived to be hindering their staff during a strike or picketing should be approached at their corporate head office, not in or around the sensitive airports where other businesses are disrupted.
From what has transpired, it may be easy to accuse the aviation unions of irrationality. However, the unions issued a seven-day notice before the action. Dialogue with the unions by airlines and aviation agencies’ management within the period should have been exploited rather than wait and watch the unions make do their threat. Procedures for industrial action should be allowed to work, rather than failing to do the right things and waiting for a party to be pushed to the wall.
Unions have a perception about employers of labour. They believe that employers of labour deliberately refuse to allow employees belong to or join a registered trade union so that when employers breach individual workers’ rights like payment of salaries and entitlements, the workers would lack the ability to influence any class action. Unfortunately, employers of labour most times, prove unions right about such assumptions.
Yes, we know about provisions for passenger compensation in cases of flight delays and cancellations, which are even contestable. Airlines’ passenger compensation for a cancelled or delayed flight can never replace a missed scheduled $1 million negotiation meeting opportunity at destination or cover up for a mental health trouble from such avoidable experience.
Whatever happens, the shenanigans of unionism and specifically, any rivalry between aviation workers and authorities if necessary, must be done in ways that such avoidable drama insulates the wider traveling public from collateral disruption and losses. Passengers cannot simply become the enforcement mechanism whenever other parts of the aviation system fail to resolve their disputes.AM
