By Ime Akpan
Lagos
The acting director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Engineer Benedict Adeyileka has threatened to withdraw the operating licence of any airline that defaults in paying staff salaries.
Adeyileka made the declaration yesterday in Lagos at a meeting held between the NCAA management and the erring airlines.
He said non-payment of workers’ salary “is detrimental to the continuous growth the industry has witnessed in recent times” adding that the action became necessary when consistently the financial health reports from the airlines indicated gaps in financial stability.
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As far as the NCAA is concerned, the issue of non-payment of staff salaries is critical to safety. The moment an airline cannot meet its financial obligations, it is believed that the staff morale will be down and this can impact negatively on safety and security of its operations,” he said.
He said the regulatory agency would not condone a situation in which airlines’ staff “will disrupt operations which will affect the travel plans of passengers who have purchased their tickets.”
“NCAA therefore wishes to reiterate that it will continue carrying out financial health audit of airlines to ensure that our airline operations are healthy, safe and secure.”
