The Nigerian Aviation Fire and Safety Association (NAFSA) has castigated the decision of the United Nigeria Airlines (UNA) to continue flight operations despite the ongoing strike embarked upon by the staff of Nigerian Meteorological (Nimet) over Condition of Service (CoS).
NAFSA insisted that the decision of the airline to continue to operate flights amounted to compromise and jeopardisation of air safety.
This was contained in a statement made available to aviation journalists on Thursday by Comrade Sunday Ugbeikwu, President, NAFSA.
The association also called on the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to, as a matter of urgency, sanction the airline for allegedly jettisoning safety, which it said should be a given topmost priority.
He said: “How can you fly when NiMet is on strike? It means you have violated the NCAA regulations. As gatekeeper of safety on the ground, we will not condone such recklessness next time. The firefighters are always battle ready to do their jobs, however we will not condone a situation whereby a certain airline would decide to neglect safety principles and fly even when the skies are not safe.
“The memories of the past crashes area still fresh on our minds and we do not want a repeat of such. Nobody should cause problems for the nation. Any crash is a national disaster. We do not want crashes, especially those caused by deliberate human negligence of safety principles.
“Inasmuch as NAFSA did not embark on a solidarity strike, which is due to the swift intervention of the Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development in the ongoing strike action by the NiMet unions, we wish to advise the airlines not to jettison safety henceforth. When you compromise safety, you risk disasters.”