Ocheme Aba, General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees, and Frances Akinjole, Deputy General Secretary of the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, released a statement addressing recent developments.

The statement was also endorsed by Abdul Rasaq, Secretary General of ANAP; Olayinka Abioye, General Secretary of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers; and Sikiru Waheed, General Secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical, and Recreational Services Employees.

They criticized the Federal Government for rejecting their plea to reverse the 50 percent deduction policy imposed on the internally generated revenues of aviation sector agencies.

The statement called for all workers of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) to participate in peaceful protests at airports nationwide on September 18, 2024. The protests aim to demand an exemption from the revenue deduction policy.

The unions emphasized that despite their efforts, the government has not acknowledged that these agencies operate on a cost-recovery basis and cannot sustain their operations with only half of their revenues. They also noted that the deadline given to the Minister of Aviation to address this issue expired at the end of August 2024.

Initially introduced in October 2022, the TSA policy started with a 25 percent deduction, which was later increased to 40 percent.