One of Nigeria’s airline operators, Aero Contractors Nigeria Limited, has sacked 900 of its workers as the company says it finds it difficult to pay their salaries.

The airline’s media consultant, Simon Tumba, in a statement on Friday disclosed that the company has about 1500 members of staff on its payroll.

Recall that Aero Contractors had shut down temporarily in October last year before reopening in December.

According to Tumba, the airline has been grappling with paying the salaries of its workers as well as servicing its overhead cost, adding that it was no longer sustainable for the airline.

The statement read in part: “The issuance of notification of redundancy is a business decision that will ensure Aero’s survival.

“The current situation where over a thousand people are basically not engaged due to lack of serviceable aircraft is not sustainable for the airline.

“The huge monthly salary associated with a bloated workforce will eventually kill the airline, which is not the intention of the current government.

“This decision will immediately reduce the whopping operational cost, which has been stifling Aero; enable the management bring in more aircraft through savings from overheads and pay for C-checks.

“It will also enable Aero have a more manageable and committed workforce in line with international best practices of 50 to 60 personnel to one aircraft unlike what obtains in Aero at the moment.”

According to Tumba, those in maintenance, repair and overhaul, MRO, and other important staff in critical departments would not be affected by the lay-off.

The aviation sector has been one of the hardest hit by the current economic recession facing the country at the moment.

It would be recalled that the federal government, through the Assets Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, had taken over Arik Air, one of the country’s largest airline operators following its inability to perform optimally.