NATCA Raises Alarm Over Welfare, Infrastructure, Career Stagnation of Air Traffic Controllers

The Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (NATCA) has issued an urgent appeal for improved working conditions, warning that persistent welfare issues, outdated equipment, and lack of career progression now pose serious risks to airspace safety.

In a statement jointly signed by NATCA President Comrade Amos Edino and General Secretary Fahad Muhammed Umar, the association said controllers are operating under severe psychological strain, inadequate tools, and unresolved welfare challenges, creating avoidable hazards in a profession that demands split-second precision.

A major concern is the state of obsolete Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS) infrastructure. NATCA noted that critical facilities remain unreliable, forcing controllers to compensate for system weaknesses that should not exist in a modern aviation environment. “No airspace can be truly safe when its managers operate beyond safe system limits,” the association warned.

The lack of structured training and manpower development also came under fire. According to NATCA, insufficient investment in recurrent training and long-term planning has weakened operational resilience and slowed professional growth.

Unsafe working conditions were highlighted, with NATCA recalling a recent fire at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, where controllers had to escape dangerously before being rescued by crane, yet resumed duties immediately afterward under traumatic conditions.

Career stagnation remains a major grievance. Many experienced controllers have been stuck on Grade Level 16 for six to 13 years, the association said, calling the situation deeply demoralising. Professional allowances have not been reviewed since 2012, and aeromedical examination funds remain inadequate. Discrepancies in the interpretation of allowance tables have also caused financial hardship, while legitimate duty-related claims have gone unpaid for months.

NATCA further advocated that retiring controllers be re‑absorbed one grade below their current level, subject to medical fitness, to retain institutional knowledge and ease manpower shortages. The association also noted falling morale, as senior controllers increasingly work under junior officers in airspace management roles.

While acknowledging the efforts of the aviation minister and authorities, NATCA called for urgent intervention, meaningful engagement, and lasting solutions, stressing that these are not merely welfare issues but matters of passenger and airspace safety.