After Air Peace, Bristow sacks 100 pilots and Engineers |The Source

By Uche Mbah

The Aviation industry has again been hit by a deluge of sacks.

This time by Bristow Helicopters who has just laid off over 100 pilots and engineers,  hours after Airpeace laid off over 60 workers, including Pilots and Engineers.

Air Peace had insisted the downsizing is inevitable, putting the reason for their action on the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Following the same script, Bristow also cited COVID 19 impacts on the industry as the reason for laying off Pilots, Engineers, and other ancillary workers.

Beyond the Pandemic, however, Bristow cited the unstable Upstream oil sectorial crisis as a major setback in their operations.

Oil prices have been badly hit due to COVID rampage, and the grounding of the industry ensured that the sale of Jet A1, a downstream product, is halted.

Bristow provides helicopter provides services mostly for oil workers in the creeks.

To cushion the effects, Bristow is engaging with Aviation Unions to come to agreements on the labor issues that will arise from the downsizing.

“In compliance with the terms of employment, the affected individuals will be paid 3 months’ salary (excluding applicable deductions) following their exit from the company.  The redundancy packages will be paid to them as soon as an agreement has been reached with NAAPE”. the company said in a release.

“The spread of the Covid-19 virus has severely impacted all sectors in the aviation industry including our market, which primarily serves the Nigerian oil and gas sector.  In addition, the ongoing downturn in the global oil and gas market continues to influence and determine the demand for our services”.

“The combined effects of these ‘arisings’ have resulted in very significant reductions to our business particularly a reduction in the number of contracted aircraft in Nigeria. As a result, the company must now restructure all aspects of its business model (both Rotary & Fixed Wing), including an extensive review of its operations and we continue to drive efficiencies, but with zero compromize to safety and our core values.

“In compliance with the terms of employment, the affected individuals will be paid 3 months’ salary (excluding applicable deductions) following their exit from the company.  The redundancy packages will be paid to them as soon as an agreement has been reached with NAAPE.”

“The spread of the Covid-19 virus has severely impacted all sectors in the aviation industry including our market, which primarily serves the Nigerian oil and gas sector.  In addition, the ongoing downturn in the global oil and gas market continues to influence and determine the demand for our services”.

“The combined effects of these ‘arisings’ has resulted in very significant reductions to our business particularly a reduction in the number of contracted aircraft in Nigeria. As a result, the company must now restructure all aspects of its business model (both Rotary & Fixed Wing), including an extensive review of its operations and we continue to drive efficiencies, but with zero compromise to safety and our core values”.