Nigeria’s aviation sector faces a potential fresh industrial crisis after unionised workers issued a final seven-day ultimatum to defaulting airline operators and organisations to remit unpaid Ticket Sales Charges (TSC) or face nationwide picketing.
The five per cent TSC is a statutory levy collected on all airline tickets sold in Nigeria. Intended to be deducted by airlines and passed on to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the funds are shared among various state aviation agencies to sustain their operations. Although the Airline Operators of Nigeria had previously collected these charges on behalf of the regulatory bodies, the group recently declared it would cease doing so.
In a joint statement, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) expressed frustration over what they termed “willful non-compliance” by defaulting operators. Signed by ATSSSAN General Secretary Frances Akinjole and NUATE Deputy General Secretary Odinaka Igbokwe, the notice followed the expiration of an initial 14-day warning issued on 8 July, which lapsed on 23 July without compliance.
The unions stressed that the continuous withholding of these statutory fees starves critical bodies of operational funding, degrades staff welfare, and creates a hazardous environment for the nation’s air space.
Highlighting the gravity of the situation, the unions warned: “This unnecessary demotivation factor to the air transport worker is a security and safety risk.”
Expressing regret over the failure of operators to act, the statement added: “Our earlier 14-day ultimatum has expired, and regrettably, willful non-compliance has been recorded. The aviation agencies remain starved of the required funds to keep our skies safe, while the conditions of service of our members in the various agencies continue to be jeopardised because of the non-remittance of the Ticket Sales Charge.”
Refusing to stand by while airspace safety remains threatened, the unions delivered their final notice to all indebted entities: “We can no longer helplessly fold our hands and allow the safety of our airspace to remain compromised. We hereby issue a seven-day notice to every TSC defaulter to remit the total debt owed to the agencies. Failure to do so will result in our unions taking concrete actions at their various premises.”