Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (SAN), has successfully brokered a truce between aviation unions and airline operators following the industrial dispute that briefly disrupted flight operations at some airports across the country earlier this week.
The breakthrough came after Keyamo convened an emergency meeting on Thursday involving the leadership of aviation unions, airline operators, and heads of aviation agencies to address the issues that triggered the temporary industrial action on Tuesday, August 11.
The meeting, which followed earlier engagements with the parties, ended with a series of resolutions aimed at restoring industrial harmony and preventing future disruptions in Nigeria’s aviation sector.
Under the agreement, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other aviation agencies will obtain detailed payment schedules from indebted airlines and work out realistic repayment arrangements that take into account the carriers’ operational costs and prevailing economic conditions.
To fast-track the process, Directors of Finance and Accounts in all aviation agencies have been directed to meet individually with each airline within one week to agree on practical repayment plans.
In another major decision, Keyamo reaffirmed workers’ constitutional right to freely choose whether or not to belong to trade unions, stressing that such decisions must be made by employees themselves without interference from airline management.
To guarantee this freedom, the minister directed the NCAA to immediately facilitate direct access for aviation unions to employees of all airlines solely for the purpose of distributing union membership forms, allowing workers to make independent decisions on unionisation.
He warned that any airline found obstructing the process would face sanctions from the regulatory authority.
The stakeholders also agreed to reconvene after one month to review the implementation of the resolutions and assess progress in resolving the outstanding issues.
According to the resolutions, all decisions reached at the meeting represent the collective agreement of the unions, airline operators, and aviation agencies.
Keyamo assured stakeholders of the Federal Government’s determination to maintain industrial peace and operational stability across the aviation sector, while reaffirming the Tinubu administration’s commitment to building a safe, efficient, peaceful, and sustainable aviation industry.
The resolutions were contained in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mahmud Adam Kambari.
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