Strike: Arik Air recalls dismissed pilots

Following the intervention by stakeholders in the aviation industry including the National Association of Airline Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Arik Air has soft peddled and recalled several of its pilots that were dismissed last Tuesday.

Recall,  some of the airline’s pilots had last Tuesday, downed tools after alleging that they had requested on several occasions to meet with the company’s Receiver Manager, Mr. Kamilu Omokide, to discuss their welfare and salary increase without any results.

Accordingly, the pilots were immediately dismissed for their actions and the management of the airline through its communications manager, Adebanji Ola, announced that they were dismissed for embarking on what the airline described as an illegal strike over demand for improved welfare.

The airline disclosed that the pilots downed tools without recourse to lay down procedures and failed to serve a strike notice in accordance with labour laws.

Ola said they neither submitted any issue of dispute to NAAPE, their umbrella union nor did they submit any statement of demands to the management of the company before downing tools.

The airline had earlier described their action as spontaneous and callous, while insisting that there were also no ongoing discussions between the management and the pilots on any unresolved labour issues.

The management had also earlier told the labour unions that issues concerning pilots’ welfare will be addressed next year, while some of the pilots demanded for a definite timeline on when any increase will be implemented.

The chairman of NAAPE, Arik Air chapter, Mudi Muhammad has revealed that when the dismissal happened, they immediately commenced negotiations with the management with the help of critical stakeholders like the current Managing Director of Aero Contractors, Capt. Abdullahi Mahmood who is a former staff of Arik.

Muhammad affirmed that the issue has been resolved because they are a family in Arik and the sacked pilots have resumed work.

“Our association was able to meet with the management and after fruitful negotiations, they agreed to recall the dismissed pilots and as I speak with you, they are in the sky. We are grateful for the stakeholders that made efforts to see that the issue was resolved,” Muhammad added.

The national president of NAAPE, Galadima Abednego also hinted that the pilots have been recalled and have since resumed work.