Traffic Controllers’ Two-day Warning Strike Disrupts Air Travels In Lagos, Enugu , Others

2 years ago
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Passengers in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu and others were stranded on Tuesday, as air traffic controllers issued notice of strike action in Lagos.

Prime Business Africa reports that some airlines could not effectively manage its fallout, as they indefinitely shifted scheduled flights without communicating the actions to booked and checked-in passengers. The communication gaps caused untold hardship for passengers ready to travel across the country.

At the Enugu International Airport, Akwa Ibom State-owned Ibom Air left a lot of Lagos-bound passengers stranded, without giving any official reason for doing so. Many of the passengers, who had queued for boarding in a Lagos-bound airplane for 12.30 pm flight, were turned back to their seats at the lounge, with the reason that the airplane would only return from Abuja to take them to Lagos at no definite time. No announcement was made subsequently, just as the airline failed to send email or SMS to intending passengers. As at 1.30 pm on Tuesday, Ibom Air passengers on a 12.30 pm Enugu-Lagos flight were still stranded at the airport without any form of communication from the airline.

Prime Business Africa gathered that the case is worse in Port Harcourt Rivers State, where movements were seriously restricted at the Port Harcourt International Airport.

 

An employee of Arik Air confirmed to Prime Business Africa that the Air traffic controllers’ strike l, indeed, put all schedules in disarray but declined comments on what the airline was doing to ameliorate its impact on passengers.

A passenger, who simply gave his name as Chuks, said it’s unfortunate he would be missing out on a very crucial business meeting. “This is terrible for me; I am told informally that the flight would still go to Lagos, but that’s not the issue. We haven’t been told what time and how. Without the control tower, no airplane can leave of land in any airport.”

Meanwhile, a statement from NATCA, a trade union for all traffic controllers in the country had hinted of a two-day warning strike that could disrupt all domestic flights. The controllers, in the statement, said that airlines might experience some hiccups in their routine operations as they embarked on a two-day warning strike beginning on Tuesday.

The arrangement was to merely slow down traffic flow by pacing departure time by 20 minutes on domestic flights at the four major airports in Lagos, Abuja, Portharcourt and Kano.

It would be recalled that Air Traffic Controller,Anniekan Effiong slumped and died early hours on Monday while on duty at Abuja tower.

This, it was gathered, informed an emergency meeting of the executive council of NATCA.

“The Executive Council of our noble profession met yesterday and discuss extensively on the state of ATC operations vis-a-vis our collective survival within the system,” the statement said.

“After deliberating until the wee hours of this morning, the council has resolved as follows:

“1. That the ATC system and operations in Nigeria has been skewed and operated with complete disregard to the well-being of ATCOs.

“2. That the managers of the system have consistently refused to act in good faith in order to reverse the ugly situation, resulting in one-death too many.

” 3. That despite ALL entreaties from the EXCO, no action seems to be initiated to resolve any of the issues, hence we are constrained to use any other means at our disposal to register and send out our frustration with the system.

” 4.Thatmmencing from 0600 UTC today, 23rd November 2021 ALL ATC units nationwide should operate flow control.

“5. That ALL departures should be spaced at 20 minutes interval.

“6. That ALL international flights are exempted.

“7. That ALL ATCOs should endeavour to be on high alert should there be a need to escalate this exercise beyond flow control, we are ready to further such actions.

“8.That this exercise will be for two days and will be strictly executed at the four major airports with strict coordination from adjacent aerodromes before any start up is issued.

“9. EXCO therefore solicits for your maximum cooperation in order to get our message out loud and clear.”
Prime Business Africa authoritatively confirmed that all airlines were aware of the NATCA’s action but failed to adjust and communicate a new plan to intending passengers on Tuesday.

At the Enugu Airport, Ibom Air did not inform passengers of any new arrangement, despite the fact that the action of the controllers would only slow scheduled flights by 29 minutes. No official information was sent to checked-in passengers at the Enugu Airport as at 1.55 pm.

An Airport official, who informed the Lagos-bound passengers at 12.20 pm that the 12.30 flight would was not boarding, said he was not speaking for Ibom Air. The passengers were already queuing for boarding when they suddenly realized it was an “Abuja flight” instead.

A senior official at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), who would not be quoted because he was not authorized to speak to the media blamed airlines for managing the situation poorly. “Some airlines would always take advantage of situations like this to do their usual things,” he told Prime Business Africa in a telephone conversation.

“As I speak with you, we concluded a meeting with one of the airlines over issues like this, especially with reference to scheduled flights and passenger management.”


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