Aero Contractors and First Nation Airways both suspended scheduled operations in 2016 as Nigeria's economy, hit by the collapse in oil prices and a currency in freefall, contracted for the first time since 2004. Aero Contractors, one of Nigeria's oldest and previously most reliable carriers, described its decision as a strategic realignment intended to return the airline to profitability rather than a shutdown, while First Nation Airways, a smaller domestic operator, halted flights outright.
Labour unions representing airline workers responded by besieging the affected carriers' offices, accusing management of forcing hundreds of staff onto indefinite unpaid leave without adequate notice or compensation. Shortages of aviation fuel compounded the disruption across the wider domestic sector that year, with shouting matches and scuffles becoming a familiar sight at Nigerian airports as passengers faced hours-long delays and abrupt cancellations that airlines blamed on fuel supply problems.
A Recession Measured in Job Losses
Risk analysts estimated that roughly 4.5 million Nigerians had lost jobs since the oil price slump began in 2014, with inflation running at 16.5 percent and the naira, officially pegged at 199 to the dollar, trading above 400 on parallel markets by the second half of 2016. Aviation, heavily exposed to both fuel costs and foreign currency for aircraft leasing and maintenance, absorbed the downturn more visibly than most sectors, with airlines that had appeared financially secure only a year or two earlier suddenly forced into retrenchment.
A Sector Under Strain
The suspensions at Aero Contractors and First Nation Airways were not isolated: international carriers were cutting Nigerian routes in the same period over blocked foreign exchange, and domestic operators still flying were absorbing rising costs they could not always pass on to increasingly cash-strapped passengers. The episode left Nigerian aviation stakeholders warning that without a resolution to the currency crisis, more airlines, domestic and international alike, would follow Aero Contractors and First Nation Airways into suspended operations.