NCAA to audit airlines, workers threaten strike
By Wole Shadare
SOME domestic airlines that have been designated by other West African countries as their flag carriers may have to be audited by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Also, the umbrella body of the three major unions in the aviation industry, Aviation Unions Grand Alliance (AUGA), has petitioned the Minister of Aviation, Mallam Isa Yuguda, over the reluctance of NCAA in implementing the review salary structure negotiated with the agency about a year ago.
According to NCAA, the auditing has become necessary to regulate all manners of aircraft that fly the country's airspace, as some African countries do not properly check some of the flag carriers.
Some airlines that do not meet up with stipulated requirements of NCAA now operate in the West Coast.
The source also informed The Guardian that an airline which operated a scheduled flight to Benin from Lagos and whose aircraft was involved in air crashes between 2000 and 2002 was disallowed from flying Nigeria's airspace.
But, the airline went ahead to register in one of the West African countries as its flag carrier.
Auditing of airlines by the NCAA involves looking critically at the technical quality of the personnel, the type of equipment used and the technical competence of the airline's management.
AUGA made up of National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), in a letter dated December 1, 2004 issued a 14-day ultimatum, at the expiration of which the workers would be forced to down tools.
"Uneasy calm has pervaded the organisation in recent times which has further been aggravated by the obvious lopsidedness of remuneration and allowances when compared with salaries and allowances of other sister organisations, like the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA)", the letter partly read.
It was also included that "while our members in FAAN and NAMA are enjoying the enhanced salaries and allowances in conformity with ICAO concepts, NCAA negotiated salaries and allowances of over a year ago are still subjected to rigors of official mishandling, misrepresentation and interpretations as a result of the administrative bureaucracy in the ministry".
The union further lamented the lackadaisical attitude of NCAA's management towards the implementation of the new salary structure, adding that some of the frustrated staff of the regulatory agency were on the verge of seeking the proverbial "golden fleece" elsewhere, thereby affecting the quality of the technical personnel.
In the letter signed by Dr. Michael Ekugun, General Secretary and Rasaq Seidu, acting General Secretary, NUATE, the union further noted that the delay in the implementation violates relevant provisions of collective agreement as contained in the Labour laws and Trade Disputes Act.
The union equally called on the government to ensure that NCAA attains the elite category one status of the Federal Airports and Administration (FAA), of the United States.
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