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Labour Unions in the aviation sector have tasked President Bola Tinubu to reverse the decision by the aviation Minister Festus Keyamo grounding Arik Air fleet saying it was done in error.
Aviation Minister had last week ordered the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to ground the airline on the basis of an alleged debt of 2.5 million dollars.
The petitioners included National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) who expressed shock with the grounding of the airline’ fleet.
The petition urging President Bola Tinubu to reverse the decision was signed by Comrade Ocheme Abba, General Secretary of NUATE and Frances Akinjole, Principal Deputy General Secretary, ATSSSAN and Olayinka Abioye, General Secretary of NAAPE.
They expressed dismay with the grounding of the operations of the airline over the indebtedness between Chief Arthur Eze and Sir Johnson Arumemi-Ekhide the founder of Arik Air.
They contended that Arik Air belong to secured creditors and wondered how such equipment could be taken over by another creditor.
To this end the unions expressed fear that no fewer than 2,000 direct staff of the airline would be thrown into the labour market while about 16,000 dependants would also face the current hardship of grounding the airline.
They added that grounding the airline has created untold hardship and severe frustration amongst Arik passengers and has exacerbated the present air travel challenges in the country. They therefore urged President Tinubu to act swiftly to reverse the decision because the hardship created by this action is avoidable.
The grounded aircrafts included Boeing 737 to 700 with registration number 5N-MJF, B737to 800; 5N-MJQ and DASH 8-Q400 with registration number 5N-BKX belong to Afrexim Bank.
The management of Arik had last week accused Keyamo of grounding the airlines fleet without justification.
