There are indications that Aero, the premier airline in Nigeria, may be forced out of operation should the face-off between the airline and its sole banker, Oceanic Bank Plc continues.
Already, the airline which also operates charter flights for some companies, mostly oil companies in the country, has lost some of these contracts to other airlines.
Consequently, trade unions and associations in the aviation industry have sent a ‘save our soul’ alert to Mrs. Fidelia Njeze, minister of aviation, to intervene in the face-off.
The workers, under the aegis of National Union of Air Transport Employees (Nuate), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Association of Airline Pilots and Engineers (Naape) pleaded with the minister to prevail on the management of Oceanic Bank to give Aero airline a soft landing in the servicing of the $200 million loan.
The workers also noted that if the airline is allowed to stop operation due to the current development, many of them would be thrown into the labour market and the bank would not get paid at the end of the day, because it is only when Aero is operating that it will generate money to service the debt.
Comrade Gideon Ogbuji, general secretary of Nuante, who spoke on behalf of the leadership of the three bodies, said the controversy recently generated by the face-off was not in the interest of the industry.
Ogbuji said on more than two occasions recently, flight operations of Aero were disrupted due to the freezing of the airline’s account by the bank which led to lack of fund for its operations, especially charter flights for oil companies in which the airline had to be penalised by paying $36,000 for breach of contract on each of the flight that was cancelled. He noted that it would be a big blow for the industry if Aero, which had successfully operated in Nigeria for the past 50 years, is allowed to go down.