The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has directed aviation agencies and airlines to agree repayment plans for outstanding debts owed by carriers.
The directive followed an emergency meeting on Thursday involving airline operators, aviation unions and heads of aviation agencies.
The meeting was convened after Tuesday’s industrial action disrupted the operations of most airlines at some Nigerian airports.
According to a statement by the ministry’s permanent secretary, Mahmud Kambari, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and other aviation agencies have been directed to obtain payment schedules from indebted airlines.
The plans are expected to spread repayment over a reasonable period while taking account of airlines’ operating costs and current economic conditions.
The meeting also resolved that aviation unions should have direct access to airline workers to distribute unionisation forms.
Kambari said workers would retain the right to decide whether to join a union, but the decision should be made directly by workers rather than management.
The NCAA was directed to sanction any airline that prevents unions from having direct access to its staff for the purpose of distributing the forms.
The ministry said the meeting sought to address pressing issues in the aviation sector and promote greater cooperation among stakeholders.
