Strike: Airlines adjust schedules after flight resumption

Domestic airlines resumed flight operations yesterday after the suspension of the strike declared by the organised labour over minimum wage.

However, most of the airlines did skeletal operations even as they cancelled some routes while operating very few destinations.

Daily Trust reports that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had suspended the indefinite strike which commenced on Monday.

The strike led to the grounding of flight operations across the country with the aviation unions joining the strike.

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However, airlines started resuming operations Tuesday afternoon after losing a whole day due to the strike as members of the unions blocked all entries to the domestic airport terminals.

Checks by Daily Trust at the MMA2 showed that as at 11am yesterday, many passengers were waiting at the entrance for the Labour Union to call off the strike.

As soon as the strike was suspended, airlines like Ibom Air, ValueJet and Air Peace, among others, resumed operations but only did a few flights.

For instance, Ibom Air only operated flights from Lagos to Accra and back, Lagos to Abuja and back, and Lagos to Uyo and back.

Also, another airline operator confirmed that very few airlines operated yesterday because the strike was called off during the day.

“Only a few airlines operated yesterday because it was later in the day that the strike was suspended. It’s until tomorrow before the airlines resume their schedule and begin to attend to all the backlogs,” he said. 

The General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Comrade Ocheme Aba, said members were mobilised back to their offices immediately after the suspension of the strike.