Barr Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation & Aerospace Development
“Any airline that prevents this direct interface will be sanctioned by the NCAA”
The whirlwind blowing between the workers in the federal government’s owned aviation agencies through their respective unions and the domestic airline operators under the aegis of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, has been calmed, as the unions agreed to sheath their sword by ending the disruption of flight operations and the airlines agreed to reconcile their Ticket Sales Charge, (TSC) debt portfolio and begin to service their debts without delay.
Also, the unions and the airline representatives meeting with the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, agreed that the management and owners of domestic airlines have agreed to their workers exercising their right of first refusal in the matter of joining any union of their choice.
Included in the resolution agreed upon on Thursday, 13th of August 2026, in Abuja was the immediate reconciliation of the TSC debt overhang with each of the airlines and a plausible payment plan to be jointly agreed upon severally and collectively with the Finance Directors of each of the aviation agencies developed.
According to the media statement by Mahmud Adam Kambari, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviation & Aerospace Development, the meeting resolved that;
“The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other Heads of Aviation Agencies are to obtain schedule of payments from the airlines, spread over a reasonable timeframe, taking into cognizance, Airlines cost of operation and current economic realities”
The resolution mandated “That the Directors of Finance and Accounts in all Aviation Agencies are to meet individual Airlines to agree on realistic repayment plan within one week”
On the vexed issue of workers exercising the human rights as a member of the International Labour Organisation, ILO, the statement claimed that, “The Honourable Minister of Aviation recognizes the right of workers to decide not to belong or to belong to Unions”.
“The Honourable Minister also recognizes the rights of the workers to decide for themselves, rather than through management. As a result, the NCAA should immediately ensure that the unions have direct access to the workers of ALL AIRLINES only to distribute their forms for the workers to directly indicate whether they intend to unionize or not”.
The statement reiterated thus, “Any airline that prevents this direct interface will be sanctioned by the NCAA”.
“The parties resolved that a meeting shall be reconvened to review the progress and the state of the current situation after one month; and That the resolutions contained in (i-iv) above are the collective decisions of all parties”.
Thus the statement concluded, “While assuring all stakeholders of safe and viable Aviation Sector, the Honourable Minister reiterated the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR towards maintaining a safe, efficient, peaceful and sustainable aviation industry”
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