The Nigerian aviation workforce, hitherto put at over 5,000, has shrunk to 3,000. The development is connected with the collapse of airlines and the economic recession in the country.
Capt. Noggie Meggison, President, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), said airlines have been forced to cut down on staff strength as a result of low utilisation of aircraft, shrinking passenger traffic occasioned by diminishing purchas-ing power and, above all, government policy which has done more harm to the carriers.
AON is a group comprising all airlines in the country. Meggison lamented that multiple charges ‘forced down’ on them by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) encompassed in Ticket Sales Charge (TSC), en route navigational charges by the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), and sundry charges by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) have all conspired to make carriers have short lifespan.
Aero Contractors recently disengaged over 60 per cent of its workforce which represents about 1,200 workers over what the Managing Director of the carrier, Capt. Ado Sanusi, said was due to redundancy. Although Arik is operating, there are indications that many of the workers would be laid off following the shrinking of the airline’s operations and shortage of serviceable airplanes from 30 to eight that are now in service.
Workers of once biggest airline in the country are on the edge awaiting what would become of them by the time the airline’s management decides to sack workers. Overland Airways also recently cut workers’ strength, especially onshore workers, which elicited protest from aviation unions. Meggison faulted several charges that are levied on the carriers, saying this has made the country’s aviation sector unattractive. His words: “Nigeria needs to jettison multiple taxation in aviation.
Airlines have over 20 charges levied against us. So, how do we survive this situation? There is nowhere in the world where airlines pay en route navigational charge and several other charges.” The AON chief called for the suspension of automation of revenue remittances by airlines to the NCAA until the parameters that constitute the five per cent Ticket and Cargo Sales Charge are clearly and properly defined.
“AON has no problem with the authority going ahead to automate the collection and remittance of the said charges, but that the NCAA needs to give clarification on what constitutes the five per cent Ticket and Cargo Sales Charge. Five per cent TSC is only applicable on base fare in compliance with industry practice and as currently applicable to international carriers operating out of Nigeria. “AON members are currently remitting the five per cent TSC charges and it is on record that NCAA introduced financial clearance process for services over the last year. Despite our members’ improved payment, infrastructure and service level continue to deteriorate across all facets of the industry under the same authority,” Meggison said.
He also accused the NCAA of discriminating against the domestic airlines because foreign airlines were not mandated to join the same automation platform. “It is apparent that NCAA is preying on domestic airlines, which they see as an easy target, a cash cow and for cheap publicity. “They are over-regulating domestic operators and pushing domestic airlines to the edge of insolvency and bankruptcy.
“It is these kinds of policies that have reduced the lifespan of Nigerian airlines and consumed over 25 airlines in the last 30 years since deregulation in 1982,” he said. The AON president appealed to the NCAA to face its energy on being an enabler and to foster growth in the Nigerian aviation industry, in line with its mandate. He added that while airlines in other West African countries operate 24 hours, Nigerian carriers are subjected to daylight operations only till 6:30p.m. in most of our airports.
“Yet the West African charges are almost a fraction of Nigeria’s domestic billing. Sadly also, Nigerian airlines are the only mode of transport paying the Value Added Tax (VAT). “Marine, road and rail transport don’t pay, and even the foreign airlines operating into Nigeria are exempted from paying VAT in Nigeria and their home base. “It is interesting to note that Ghana, only on March 30, announced the cancellation of VAT on domestic and intentional air travel,” Meggisson added.
Source: newtelegraphonline.com
