Minister brokers peace deal to end aviation crisis, gives 1-Week TSC repayment deadline

• NCAA to enforce airline Unionisation rights

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, has brokered a peace deal between aviation unions, airline operators, and regulatory agencies, effectively dousing the industrial tension that recently paralysed flight operations across Nigerian airports and led to the picketing of Air Peace on Tuesday.

The breakthrough came during an emergency stakeholders’ meeting held as a follow-up to the conditional suspension of the unions’ industrial action on August 11.

Discussions centered on two major flashpoints: the long-standing controversy surrounding the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) remittances and the unionization of private airline personnel.

Under the newly agreed terms, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and sister agencies have been directed to work alongside domestic carriers to establish realistic, customized debt repayment schedules.

The framework acknowledges the heavy operational costs and current macroeconomic headwinds confronting the airline industry.

To ensure swift execution, Keyamo directed the Finance Directors of the respective aviation agencies to finalise these structured repayment agreements with individual airlines within one week.

Addressing the friction over labour rights, the meeting affirmed that airline workers must be allowed to exercise their constitutional right to decide whether to join trade unions without harassment or coercion.

To enforce this, the NCAA will facilitate direct access for labour unions across all airlines, strictly for the purpose of distributing membership consent forms.

Also, airline employees will be permitted to make their choices independently, just as the regulatory authority has been explicitly empowered to sanction any airline operator that obstructs or interferes with the process.

Stakeholders are scheduled to reconvene in one month to review the progress of implementation and evaluate the overall state of industrial relations in the sector.

Reaffirming the administration’s stance, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Mahmud Kambari, noted that the Minister remains firmly committed to fostering a safe, peaceful, efficient, and commercially viable aviation ecosystem for all players.

Recall that flight operations across Nigeria’s major aviation hubs were plunged into severe disruption on Tuesday as joint aviation unions carried out a targeted picketing of Air Peace at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

The coordinated industrial action, led by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), with backing from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), grounded dozens of flights and left thousands of passengers stranded.

The dispute stems from two primary grievances: allegations that domestic carriers, led by Air Peace, owe approximately N17 billion in accumulated 5% Ticket Sales Charge and Cargo Sales Charge (TSC/CSC) remittances to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), and persistent complaints regarding restrictions on workers’ freedom to unionise.

The unions accuse Air Peace and other domestic operators of illegally withholding funds collected from passengers on behalf of the NCAA and sister aviation agencies.

Wole Shadare