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Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs), professionals in the aviation sector who have been demanding proper professional recognition, salary increment and other benefits for the past eight years, have now submitted their petition to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD), asking for a swift response to their demands within a month. They also said that if their demands are not met, they will resign.
The number of ATCs across the country stationed in different airports currently range from 120-125 and the professionals that submitted their petition to the PM reach 118 in number. In a letter they submitted, the ATCs stated that their request for salary increment and other benefits to different officials in the Ministry of Transport dates back to the administrative era of Junedin Sado, the then Minister of Transport. However, their request did not get any tangible result, the letter reads.
The letter also stated that, recently, the ATCs submitted their petition on February 16, 2018 to Ahmed Shide, the then Minister of Transport who is currently Minister of Government Communication Affairs Office and to Siraj Fegesa, the new Minister of Transport, on May 17, 2018.
The ATCs described their jobs as laborious and stressful. However, their salary and other benefits in line with their contribution to the sector is very minimal and much less compared to other actors in the sector. “One captain is responsible to the passengers and aircraft that he/she is assigned to command at a time, however, one air traffic controller is responsible at least for ten aircrafts and all passengers on board at a time, but the salary of one ATC is negligible compared to our contribution to the sector,” the letter reads, demanding fairness in their salary and other benefits.
Accordingly, the ATCs requested a one thousand percent salary increment, different benefits based on international standards, which includes: stress allowance, license, night premium allowance and other related benefits and warned that if these are not fulfilled within one month period, they will resign.
It is to be recalled that due to disagreements between Air Traffic Controllers and the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority back in April 2018, all flights in and out of Addis Ababa, Bole International Airport were halted for about two hours.
