According to local carriers, aviation employees in Lagos launched a two-day strike on Monday in protest of working conditions and remuneration, creating interruptions to domestic flights in Nigeria.
The protest is expected to worsen existing challenges in an industry already beset by regular jet fuel shortages that often disrupt local flights and where international airlines struggle to repatriate funds from ticket sales due to currency limits.
The largest airline in terms of fleet size, Air Peace, notified passengers that “flights across our network will consequently be disrupted” as a result of the strike. There was no word on how many flights were impacted by the delays.
United Nigeria warned of delays for passengers traveling to and from Lagos, the country’s economic center, but expressed hope that the stalemate would be resolved soon.
Workers in Lagos blocked traffic at the domestic terminal by yelling, forcing passengers to walk the remaining distance. There were no foreign flights affected.
According to Abdulrasaq Saidu, secretary general of the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, “it is time for us to release aviation workers from the bondage of this imperialist aviation management that we have been having for years.”
The Ministry of Aviation said it was trying to satisfy the workers’ wishes and had requested them to return to work, warning that the strike would “affect flight schedules, lead to economic losses, and negatively impact our rating globally.”
Pilots, engineers, and control tower operators have established unions and have threatened to strike if the government does not impose an industry minimum wage and reject plans to demolish several aviation organizations’ buildings in Lagos to make way for airport expansion.
