Nigerian airline operator, Azman Air, has disclosed why it sent all its staff members on an indefinite compulsory leave without pay.
Nurudden Aliyu, the airline‘s spokesperson, said the decision was made due to a number of factors, including the ongoing C-checks on its aircraft and the high cost of operations.
In aviation, C-check is a deep inspection of the majority of an aircraft’s components usually done by a maintenance technician.
“We have temporarily suspended the operation and it was due to all our 737 we are using for domestic operation are due for C-checks,” Aliyu told TheCable.
“We have already sent two of them to a maintenance facility in Turkey, but unfortunately, since we sent the aircraft there, there is a queue in the maintenance hanger and they were not able to finish in time.
“The other two we are using here are also due for maintenance and we are trying to send them for C-checks also.
“Also, one of the aircraft has achieved 90 percent completion so we are expecting two of the aircraft to be back in October.”
According to TheCable, Aliyu further said the airline is facing financial difficulties due to a lack of revenue, explaining that sending workers on leave without pay was a way to cut costs.
“We have been doing on-and-off operations since March, sometimes with one aircraft. So we decided, due to this harsh situation, to temporarily suspend domestic operation until we put our house in order,” the spokesperson said.
“We are not going to employ another set of people, we are going to engage them that’s why in the mail sent to them we gave them assurance that once the situation normalises, they will be called upon.
“The only problem is that we didn’t state the date of resumption. Like I said, since March that we have been doing on-and-off operation, we have not denied anybody salaries, we have been consistent in that regard but the burden became too much on the company since there is no revenue, that’s why we decided to suspend operations.”
