Coronavirus: FG gives update on pilots sacked by Air Peace

The management of the aircraft in a statement released on Monday had announced that it sacked some of its pilots and supporting staff.

 

The Federal government has said that plans are underway to recall most of the pilots dismissed by the management of Air Peace.

 

According to the statement, the devastating effects of coronavirus pandemic on its operations were responsible for the sack of some pilots and supporting staff.

 

Following the development, the Nigeria Labour Congress in a statement condemned and rejected the sack of the pilots.

 

The Union also said that the sack of the workers by the airlines was highly insensitive, callous, and unjust, adding that the airlines have just two weeks to recall the sacked workers or face industrial unrest.

 

However, a statement released by the spokesperson of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, Jude Odaudu, said the decision to recall most of the dismissed pilots was taken during an intervention meeting held by Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, between the management of the airline and the leadership of the National Association of Airline Pilots and Engineers, NAAPE, held in his office on Tuesday.

 

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The statement also said the Chairman of Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyema, verbally accepted the Minister’s plea for the recall of the maximum number of pilots that the airline can accommodate without going bankrupt.

 

Also, NAAPE chairman, Galadima Abednego, said that some missteps could have been made in the course of the standoff between the airline and the union and appealed to the Minister to intervene in order to resolve the impasse.

 

“As a union, it was a painful thing to see a large number of their members thrown into the labour market, and further appealed to employers of labour to see the union members as partners, and not adversaries,” he said.