The Federal Government has given airlines one week to agree on repayment plans for outstanding Ticket Sales Charges (TSC) owed to aviation agencies. The directive was issued by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, in a statement posted on his official X account on Thursday. This followed an emergency meeting convened by Keyamo with airlines, aviation unions and heads of aviation agencies to address issues arising from the unions’ industrial action on Tuesday, August 11. What they are saying
Keyamo directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other heads of aviation agencies to obtain payment schedules from airlines, with repayment arrangements spread over a reasonable timeframe while taking into account airlines’ operating costs and current economic realities.
“The Directors Finance and Accounts in all Aviation Agencies are to meet individual Airlines to agree on realistic repayment plan within one week,” the statement read. The minister also affirmed workers’ right to decide whether to belong to a union and directed the NCAA to ensure that unions have direct access to workers of all airlines. The unions are to distribute membership forms directly to workers so they can independently indicate whether they intend to unionise. Keyamo said any airline that prevents unions from having direct access to its workers will be sanctioned by the NCAA. The stakeholders also agreed to reconvene after one month to review the progress of the resolutions and the state of the situation.
The minister said the resolutions represent the collective decisions of all parties involved in the meeting. Backstory
The aviation unions’ industrial action on Tuesday, August 11, was driven by concerns over the alleged non-remittance of TSC by airlines and workers’ freedom of association. The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) alleged that domestic airlines were owing more than N25 billion in TSC, with Air Peace allegedly accounting for more than N17 billion. NUATE President Ben Nnabue said the unions were demanding workers’ freedom of association in line with Nigerian law and international labour conventions. The Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) President, John Ogbe, also raised concerns about casualisation and the absence of collective bargaining agreements among some operators. The unions said they had initially avoided stopping all airlines because of the potential impact on passengers but proceeded against Air Peace because of the scale of its alleged outstanding TSC obligations and its alleged refusal to engage in negotiations. The action targeted Air Peace’s domestic operations at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT), also known as MMA1, in Lagos, and Abuja airport.
At MMA1, passengers were left stranded for several hours after the terminal gates were shut. Nairametrics observed the arrival section reopening at about 2:25pm, allowing passengers to enter the terminal ahead of the resumption of operations. Air Peace subsequently announced through the terminal’s public address system that some afternoon flights would proceed, while some morning flights had been cancelled. What you should know
The Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) is a statutory 5% charge collected by airlines on behalf of the NCAA on tickets for flights originating in Nigeria.
Under the existing revenue-sharing formula, the NCAA receives 56% of the TSC, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) 22%, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) 9%, the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) 7% and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) 6%. The NCAA has said TSC accounts for about 85% of its revenues and funds key functions including safety oversight, certification, licensing and inspections. The unions have also raised broader concerns about labour practices in the aviation industry, including casualisation and the absence of collective bargaining agreements.
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Keyamo’s latest resolutions are therefore expected to address both the outstanding TSC obligations and the unions’ concerns over workers’ freedom of association, while preventing further disruption to flight operations.
