Date Published: 03/15/11

Arik Airline Staff cries for help, says Chairman "Calls Us Monkeys", salaries never paid

We want to say a very big thank you for the kind of first class information we get from your network.

We really do pray that God will continue to be with you and increase your knowledge and power to say more of the truth needed to build our nation.

We will like to bring to your notice that we the staff of Arik Air are not happy with the way and manner our management is treating us. We worked very hard to make our living, but what we get in return is the 2 months delay in salaries, abusive languages from our Chairman, humiliation and underpayment.

You can imagine when our chairman addressed us and called us Monkeys; but in our mind we call him Baboon. Off course we all know Baboons are fathers to monkeys. To substantiate our facts, majority of our Nigerian Pilots have left Arik and they are still counting. Mr Egwuonu, our chief Pilot resigned two months ago and Some are resigning their appointments. Cabin crews also are not left behind Sure, we will all want to work in place where we will be treated nicely.

By standard, cabin crews are those that make the money for any airline all over the world, but the reverse is the case for Arik Air. Sometimes, when we go to
London and America, we meet our colleagues from other different airlines and they tell us the kind of benefits they get as a cabin crew.

You can imagine, there are no workmanship benefits, no health insurance, salary is the smallest in the in the world, Arik Air do not even refer crew members to the embassy, No rebate as s staff. There is absolutely nothing you can benefit as a staff of Arik Air.

You can imagine if a crew that has to risk his or her life comes back to be paid N55,000.00 basic and plus all your allowances and flight time N110,000 per month Funny enough, the salary will be paid on the 25th day of the new month. Sometime some of us don’t get our salaries until the sixtieth day or more. Why, all because there are no jobs.

Kindly remind this man that there are other airlines before he started his business. Ask him to fathom what happened to Okada Air, Albarka air and other.

A word is enough for the wise or we will fight you very strongly to the extent of seeing your aircraft sleeping at the airport and no one will be ready to operate the flight.

Please kindly send this to the internet if his friends can call him to other or we will be ready for a showdown one day.

Concern Crew Member,

Atiku Chinelo Abidemi.

On behalf of my coleagues.