Passengers Stranded As Union Grounds Arik’s Operation At Lagos, Abuja Airports

Hundreds of Arik Air passengers were yesterday stranded at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) Murtala Mohammed Airport Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport Abuja, as aviation unionists protest the airline’s alleged failure to
pay debts reaching N12.5billion owed the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other sister agencies.

According to Leadership the unionists, who carried placards, stormed the operational base of Arik Air as early as 6.30am yesterday and grounded the operations of the country’s largest carrier.

They barricaded Arik working areas, waving placards with such inscriptions as ‘Arik Pay Your 12.4bn Debt!’, ‘FAAN can no longer pay salaries, pension, staff claims due to your debt’,  ‘Arik if you can’t pay; don’t fly’.

The general secretary of one of the protesting unions, the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Olayinka Abioye, said “We are engaged in this picketing exercise against Arik Air over its indebtedness to FAAN in the sum of N12.5 billion.”

He said the unions had decided to shut down the airline’s operations after years of negotiations, with the airline feigning ignorance of its debt and refusing to pay.

While the protest lasted, a crowd of passengers formed at Arik’s GAT operational bases in Lagos and Abuja with no one to attend to them.

Some of them demanded a refund from the airline, while others sought to make alternative flight arrangements.

Confirming the incident, Arik’s spokesman, Mr Ola Adebanji, said workers of the airline were prevented from gaining access to their duty posts by the unionists thereby disrupting the day’s operations.

“The action by the workers’ union is connected with the long-standing and unsubstantiated claim by the FAAN of spurious indebtedness of the airline to the agency which is now before a Federal High Court in Lagos at the instance of FAAN,” Adebanji said in a statement issued later in the day after the protest yesterday.

He noted that for several months, the management of Arik Air and FAAN have been meeting to reconcile payment accounts between the two institutions, adding that the reconciliation process is still ongoing until the latest actions by the union.