Against the backdrop of alleged rising cases of labour unrest in the aviation sector occasioned by salary arrears, experts in the industry have called for the immediate economic audit of airlines to determine their financial stability. Meanwhile, workers of the Chanchangi Airlines Monday in Lagos down tools and protested 36 months’ salary arrears. Experts told the newspaper correspondent that serious issues as workers’ salaries could jeopardise air safety, just as they called on the aviation regulatory body to quickly conduct a fresh economic audit with a view to determining how healthy Nigerian airlines are. The last audit was carried out by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in 2006 after the Bellview, Sosoliso and ADC airlines’ crashes. One of the recommendations of the audit panel was for the airlines operating in the country to recapitalize to the tune of N500 million, while those designated on international routes were N1 billion. The recapitalization was made to partly take care of workers’ welfare given the fact that workers’ morale could affect air safety. The workers began the peaceful protest from the ticket counters of the old domestic terminal at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT), Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.  It, however, terminated at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) headquarters where they registered their grievances with the regulatory agency. The workers said the airline’s management had asked them to stay off work since 2010, when the airline started having operational challenges, noting that the carrier had not paid them since. At the NCAA headquarters, the Director of Human Resources, Mr. Austin Ifeanyi, and the Director of Consumer Protection, Adamu Abdullahi, received the workers on behalf of the Acting Director General, Mr. Joyce Nkemekolam. They assured them that the authority would look into their grievances and ensure the airline does what was right, just as they commended them for toeing the path of peace, by taking up the issue to the appropriate quarter. They assured the workers that it was the NCAA’s duty to ensure that all goes on well in the aviation sector, noting that the agency would investigate their claims and call Chanchangi Airline to order, to ensure that the workers’ plights were addressed urgently. However, the airline’s station manager, Mr. Babadiya Ahmed, disclosed that the workers were not sacked, adding that the airline’s management was already looking into the issue.

.                                                                                                 The Guardian, June 11, Page 5