Ime Akpan
The 24-hour disruption of all operations at theMurtala Muhammed Airport Terminal 2 (MMA2), Lagos yesterday by members ofAir Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) over the recent sack of more than 30 of its members by the terminal operator, Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), has had a telling economic effect on Ibom Air.
While the impasse lasted, the airline had to make contingency arrangements at the general aviation terminal to ferry its passengers to their destination, but at a huge cost, though undisclosed.
In a whatsapp post, the chief operating officer of the airline, Mr. George Uriesi said the ATSSSAN-BASL faceoff led to the disruption of the programmes of approximately 1,900 paid up passengers from 31 flights scheduled for that day.
He also disclosed that 98 per cent of the flights were originating, terminating or linked to an originating flight from Lagos.
Here is the short unedited post
“Let us put in perspective, the practical consequences of the labour action taken today at MM2.
“For starters, my airline had 31 flights scheduled for today, 98% of them either originating, terminating or linked to an originating flight from Lagos. This meant that we disrupted the programmes of approximately 1,900 paid up passengers. Only God knows how to fully quantify this in not just economic, but also trauma terms.
“For us the airline, a lot of the catering ordered, paid for and delivered for our flights today is now wasted (due to perishability). We were forced to reschedule at least 1,000 already booked and confirmed passengers on other flights from tomorrow, costing us heavily in lost revenue (having to remove seats from sales inventory) and wasted man hours, while placing severe and unnecessary pressure on the system. We also had to organise (at considerable additional cost, not to mention huge inconvenience) to operate in and out of GAT today.
“For the service providers- ground handlers, outsourced security, etc, plenty unnecessary and unexpected loss of revenue. Huge waste of man hours.
“All in all, it was a largely unproductive day. Something the industry can hardly afford at this critical time! The sort of very, very, very bad day that I hope we never see again as an industry. More than that, it amounted to another net loss of image for our local industry (which keeps on being chipped away at, both domestically and internationally). We cannot and should not just keep on dusting these things off and carrying on as if nothing untoward happened.
“We need to change direction. We need to find a way to shed our old skin and move forward.”
