Azman Air suspends flight operations, asks staff to proceed on leave without pay

Azman Airline has suspended flights operation indefinitely, attributing it to the ongoing C-checks on all its aircrafts and the high cost of operations.

A source who is familiar with the issue but does not what his name mentioned disclosed to The Guardian saying “We have temporarily suspended our operation and it was because all the Boeing 737 we are using for domestic operation are due for C-checks,”

The source stated that two of their aircraft were sent to the maintenance facility in Turkey for C-checks, but unfortunately, they will wait for a long queue at the hangar which would take some time to be ready.

He added that the two other aircraft are due for maintenance, while the other one of them has achieved 90 percent completion and it’s expected back in the country by October.”

Meanwhile, the airline in an internal memo titled ‘Placement of Leave Without Pay’, issued to staff members and signed by the airline’s Human Resources Manager, Magaji Misau, directed its staff to embark on leave without pay.

The source, while explaining the recent development explained that the airline is facing financial difficulties due to lack of revenue, explaining that sending workers on leave without pay was a way to cut costs.

“The airline has been doing on-and-off operations since March, sometimes with one aircraft. So we decided, due to this harsh situation, to temporarily suspend domestic operation until we put our house in order,” the spokesperson said.

“They do not plan to employ another set of people as the airline plans to still engage the staff once the situation normalises, they will be called upon.”

“The only problem is that we didn’t state the date of resumption. Like I said, since March we have been doing on-and-off operations, we have not denied anybody salaries, we have been consistent in that regard but the burden became too much on the company since there is no revenue, and that’s why we decided to suspend operations.”

In the meantime, Nigerians have shared their ordeal with Azman Air, accusing the airline of cancelling their flights and refusing to make refunds.

The source said the airline has made it a priority to process the payment for those that have applied for a refund and that they hope to complete the process upon resumption.

“They are working on that and we are going to pay everybody. That’s what we are working on now, to pay those that have refund cases with us,” he said.

“The payment will be made to those who apply to get a refund. Once your flight is cancelled we have a refund form that customers are meant to fill. It’s only the customers that fill out this form that can be refunded.

“They assured us their determination to make payment to everyone we are owing and we hope to clear that upon our resumption.”