Nigeria's second largest airline Aero Contractors has laid off two-thirds of its workforce to save costs and prevent it from going under, a government agency official confirmed on Friday. The company said in a letter to employees on Thursday that it was "constrained to place (them) under redundancy" because of "operational challenges" that had hit its finances.
In all, more than 1,000 of the 1,500-strong workforce will lose their jobs, Jude Mwauzor, a spokesman for the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), told AFP.
AMCON acquired Aero Contractors in 2011 because of mounting debts and a lack of aircraft to service its routes.
The government agency last month also took over the country's main private airline, Arik Air, to prevent it from going bust because of spiralling debts. "The management did not want to continue to live a life of lies. It had to rationalise to save the airline because there were too many workers doing nothing," Mwauzor said. "The airline does not have the funds to be paying redundant staff. Our position is that the management has to stabilise Aero and return it to efficiency and profitability," he said.
The layoffs "will also enable Aero have a more manageable and committed workforce in line with international best practices of 50 to 60 personnel to one". Foreign creditors had also seized several of its aircraft.
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