CHUKWUEMEKE IWELUNMO,
Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) have given the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) fourteen days to remit all collected 5% Tickets Sales Charge money to Aviation agencies in the country or face industrial unrest
In a statement by Frances Akinjole, General Secretary ATSSSAN, Comrade Odinaka Igbokwe, Deputy General Secretary NUATE said the unions have been compelled to express grave concern over the reported failure of many airlines operating in Nigeria to remit the statutory 5% Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) collected on behalf of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and other aviation agencies, for the purpose of maintaining safe air transportation in the country.
They said the Unions were aware that the accumulation of these outstanding remittances over the past months/years has run into several billions of naira and has adversely affected the revenue profile of the Agencies.
“This is thereby creating avoidable financial constraints that negatively impact the effective discharge of their various statutory responsibilities and the smooth operation of the aviation sector in general. This is safety compromised!
We wish to remind all that the 5% Ticket Sales Charge (TS) is a statutory obligation established by law, with the necessary backing of International Civil Aviation Organisation CAO instruments, and not a discretionary payment”
“International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Doc 9734 – Safety Oversight Manual, Parts A and B, provide a clear need for a sustainable and stable source of financing for the agencies”
The unions noted that TSC was collected by airlines on behalf of agencies and were required to remit these funds promptly and in full compliance with the provisions of the Civil Aviation Act and other applicable regulations.
According to them, the continued non-remittance of these statutory funds was grossly unacceptable as it undermines the financial stability of the Agencies whose statutory functions depend on these remittances. “It must be appreciated that TSC is not a profit, but resources meant to facilitate safe air. Hence, the Agencies are mere cost recovery organisations”
They warned that failure to comply with their demand within the stipulated period will leave the Aviation Unions with no alternative but to employ every means necessary to ensure that the entire Nigerian aviation sector does not go aground because of air safety issues necessitated by the actions and inactions of the entities stifling the Agencies of their required operational funds.
They urged the affected airlines to treat the matter with the promptness it deserves and take the necessary steps to avert avoidable industrial comatose.
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