Passengers stranded as union grounds Dana Air

Scores of passengers of Dana Air Limited were, yesterday, stranded for hours following an industrial action embarked upon by pilots and engineers of the airline.

The strike by the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) grounded flight operations by the airline for almost 10 hours as all the morning flights to Abuja, Port Harcourt, Uyo, among others could not take off.

The strike was premised on the refusal of Dana Air to allow members of its staff to join the union even as they accused the airline of anti-labour practices.

Dana Air management in its reaction, however, described the strike as illegal and denied allegation of casualisation of workers.

At about 11a.m when our correspondent visited the Murtala Muhammed Airport terminal two (MMA2), some members of the union were seen dancing to loud music from a public address system they brought to the venue.

Daily Trust correspondent also observed stranded passengers of the airline sitting quietly on their luggage while some lamented the flight disruption.

One of the passengers who identified herself simply as Mrs. Ayuba said her Abuja flight scheduled for 10:00a.m remained uncertain. She said there were people who arrived at the airport as early as 6:00am but were not sure of when the flights would depart.

However, an agreement was later reached between the management and the union after a meeting coordinated by the Commissioner of Police, Lagos Airport Command, Mr. Besan Gwana.

The airline, which resumed flight operations around 3p.m apologised to its passengers for the “slight delay” experienced as a result of the flight disruption.

The police commissioner, speaking through the command’s spokesman, Joseph Alabi, urged the parties to respect the agreement reached.