Air Peace to recall some sacked pilots after Nigerian govt’s intervention

The Nigerian government Tuesday said Air Peace would recall a number of pilots it fired.

Air Peace had earlier in August declared the dismissal of the pilots being part of the company’s actions to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its operations.

The National Association of Airline Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) had issued the airline a two-week ultimatum to recall the sacked employees or face industrial action.

But the Director of Public Affairs at the Ministry of Aviation, James Odaudu, said at a meeting that the management of Air Peace agreed to reinstate some of the pilots who lost their jobs.

He said Allen Onyema, Chairman of Air Peace, consented to recall the maximum number of pilots that his company could accommodate in view of the current situation resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

“In the verbal agreement reached after a dialogue that was held in a very friendly environment, Chairman of Air Peace, Chief Allen Onyema, acceded to the Minister’s appeal for the recall of the maximum number of pilots that the airline can accommodate without going under,” Odadu said in a statement.

The statement titled, Air Peace to Recall Some Sacked Pilots as Sirika Intervenes’ observed the pilot’s association, led by its Chairman, Galadima Abednego, agreed that some missteps could have been made during the standoff between the airline and the union.

Abednego said it was painful as a union to see an array of their members dismissed as he enjoined employers to see union members as partners and not adversaries.

Read also: Why we sacked pilots, supporting staff —Air Peace

Onyema expressed his displeasure over what he described as the ingratitude of some of the airline’s pilots in spite of actions taken to make them comfortable in their jobs.

He stated how Air Peace had trained more than 80 pilots and the same number of aircraft engineers, giving its employees the best remuneration package in the industry only for them to disappoint at a time their understanding was required.

He lauded Sirika for providing the needed leadership to the sector and vowed to give his full cooperation in ensuring the development of the aviation sector in the country.

Sirika called for labour unions’ understanding concerning the prevailing condition in the aviation sector.

‘The minister appealed to him to recall the maximum number of the sacked pilots that the airline can comfortably accommodate in the prevailing circumstances to which the airline operator agreed,’ the statement added.

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