Unions: Growing debt crisis threatens aviation safety
The Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) has sounded a critical alarm over a growing debt crisis threatening to paralyse Nigeria’s aviation industry.
The union warns that massive unpaid liabilities from airlines, operators, and inter-agency defaults are actively compromising the safety, stability, and long-term sustainability of the sector.
In a sharply worded statement, ANAP Secretary-General, AbdulRasaq Saidu, revealed that the ballooning debt burden has stripped key aviation agencies of their financial muscle.
This severe liquidity crunch, he said, has left agencies struggling to meet basic staff welfare obligations, fund safety-critical employee training, and conduct vital regulatory and safety inspections.
The fallout is already manifesting as industrial unrest within key bodies, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).
Saidu emphasised that halting essential staff training and safety-critical operations poses an immediate risk to Nigerian airspace.
While acknowledging the harsh economic climate confronting airlines, the ANAP scribe strongly condemned operators who withhold statutory revenues.
He said, “Some operators are collecting fees on behalf of government agencies but failing to remit them, alongside dodging bills for services already rendered. This practice is a fast track to crippling both the agencies and the airlines themselves.”
Saidu flagged the internal culture of inter-agency debt as an equally destructive force, noting that it paralyses service delivery and stalls the implementation of better working conditions for staff.
To prevent a total collapse and widespread service disruptions, ANAP is calling on the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development to step in immediately.
The union urged the Ministry to convene an emergency stakeholders’ crisis meeting bringing together aviation agencies, airlines, labour unions, and key industry players to hammer out a definitive blueprint for financial recovery.
This is coming as the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has urged the Federal Government to commercialise or privatise the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).
The committee says the reform is essential to modernising Nigeria’s air navigation infrastructure and ensuring long-term financial sustainability.
In a statement jointly signed by the ATSSSAN Branch Secretary, Salami J. Adeniyi; ANAP Branch Secretary, Omaga Joshua; NUATE Branch Secretary, Celestine N. Chukwu; and the NAAPE Branch Secretary at the NCAA, the committee said NAMA’s continued reliance on government funding has slowed critical safety upgrades and infrastructure development due to budgetary constraints and bureaucratic delays.
The unions said commercialisation or a well-structured Public-Private Partnership would enable NAMA to attract private investment, access capital markets and deploy modern technologies such as satellite-based surveillance systems, while improving efficiency and operational performance.
They cited successful air navigation service providers in Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand as examples of sustainable funding and world-class service delivery.
The committee also called for greater transparency in NAMA’s revenue management, questioning the agency’s push for a 23 to 40 per cent increase in the Ticket Sales Charge instead of pursuing structural reforms.
It maintained that the NCAA should remain an independent safety regulator while NAMA focuses solely on airspace management, insisting that such institutional separation would strengthen regulatory oversight and enhance aviation safety.
The JAC warned that maintaining the current funding model risks leaving Nigeria behind global aviation standards and urged the Federal Government to implement reforms to deliver safer skies, modern infrastructure, and a more competitive aviation industry.
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