Air Peace Claims N2bn Loss After Labour Disruption

(Air Peace. Photo by Tribune Online)

Air Peace has quantified its operational and financial devastation from Tuesday’s labour disruption at over N2 billion and demanded that government authorities investigate the incident, characterising the unions’ picketing as contrary to established law and a subsisting court judgment.

The airline’s operational leadership addressed media representatives on Wednesday, condemning the labour action and outlining the grounds for the unions’ grievances: alleged carrier indebtedness relative to ticket sales levies and the absence of unionisation amongst airline personnel.

Regarding the ticket sales charge dispute, the airline stated that the aviation regulatory authority had publicly confirmed that carriers were adhering to applicable payment directives, thereby questioning the logic of selective targeting if the matter constituted a sector-wide concern.

The airline noted that more than 98 per cent of Nigerian carriers operated without unionised workforces and that Air Peace employees had voluntarily declined membership, a choice constituting protected exercise of individual rights.

The airline alleged that union representatives were observed encouraging travellers to patronise competing carriers, many of which similarly faced the grievances being articulated.

Management disclosed that certain personnel sustained physical trauma during picketing, including a female staff member left bleeding and injured, and questioned how labour advocacy could justify violence against workers exercising constitutional prerogatives.

The airline raised security vulnerabilities at airport facilities, noting that demonstrators had accessed restricted operational zones without impediment, a circumstance raising broader questions about asset protection at critical national infrastructure.

Management cautioned that the disruption had generated apprehension amongst international partners and aircraft financing entities concerning Nigeria’s operational environment.

The airline invoked a Federal High Court judgment from April 2024 prohibiting labour unions from coercing Air Peace workers into membership, declaring such coercion unlawful and unconstitutional, whilst restraining unions from workplace harassment or instigation of peace breaches.

The airline contended that Tuesday’s action constituted violation of that judgment and applicable aviation security regulations.

The airline maintained that employees possessed constitutional choice, passengers possessed travel rights, and the carrier possessed operational prerogatives free from unlawful interference.

Management indicated possession of documentary evidence and investigative materials and called upon government, security apparatus, airport authorities and aviation regulators to conduct independent examination of the incident.

The airline cautioned that the aviation sector held too strategic a position to permit this precedent and urged stakeholders to resolve labour disputes whilst preserving passenger welfare, airport security and operational continuity.