…Says 67 years is not just a milestone but a bold statement of resilience
.L-R: Capt Ado Sanusi, MD/CEO of Aero Contractors; Engr James Omiyi, Head, Aero MRO and Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, during the presentation of the recently acquired equipment at the 67th Anniversary Ceremony of Aero Contractors which held in Lagos on Monday
As Aero Contractors celebrates its 67th anniversary, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the airline, Capt. Ado Sanusi, has urged the Federal Government to recognise, protect and position the oldest airline in Nigeria as a national treasure to serve the country for the next 67 years and beyond.
He also appealed to the Federal Government through the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Mr. Festus Keyamo, to let ensure that the aviation industry benefit from the Renewed Hope Agenda(RHA) policy for f the current administration.
He said this at the 67th anniversary of Aero Contractors and the unveiling of Maintenance Repair and Overhaul(MRO) equipment worth millions of dollars.
Speaking on the challenges facing the industry, Sanusi commended President Bola Tinubu’s RHA and the Minister for the renovation of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport(MMIA), Lagos.
He, however requested for a firm RHA for aviation, where the industry should be a fulcrum and catalyst for economic growth through tourism, trade, jobs and foreign investment.
He warned that Nigeria is slipping down the ladder as other nations are building new mega-airports and a major maintenance hangar with the eye to equally serve the Nigerian market, and if nothing strategic is done Nigeria risks her airports becoming ghost structures.
The Aero Contracts boss stated that today,the airline
stands as a fully integrated Aviation Enterprise, Scheduled Operations, Charter and Rotary Wing, Maintenance and Repair Overhaul (MRO), and Pilot Training, and the MRO now serves sister carriers across West Africa.
He said that in 2016, when the airline’s fortunes were at its lowest, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) stepped in, took a majority stake, and gave the Airline a second chance at life.
The MRO, he said has upgraded to state of the art smart tools that have chips in them, new equipment and extension of hangar to serve the West and Central African markets.
“The resilience now shows in our numbers too, from an operating margin of minus 134% in 2022 to a positive operating margin by 2025. That is why this legacy must not be allowed to fade. Sixty-seven years is not a number, it is a living memory, carried by every Nigerian who learned to trust the skies because of us, and by every young Engineer and Pilot
who cut their teeth in our hangars and cockpits,” Sanusi.
Speaking further, at the event with the theme, ‘Going the Extra Miles’ Sanusi said that the anniversary is not just a milestone but a bold statement of the airline’s resilience in weathering storms of challenges and maintaining high standards in an industry nationally noted for high mortality rate.
Aero Contractors, Sanusi started as a small company flying men and equipment to the oil fields of the Niger Delta to become one of Nigeria’s iconic aviation companies.
He said the resilience of the airline deserves special recognition. According to him.
According to him, “I came to tell you a story of resilience.
We have grounded fleets and empty hangars and still, we flew.
We have gone months without a single aircraft in the sky, and still, we flew. We have buried colleagues, gone without pay, and watched the world write us off, and still, we flew.”
“That is not luck. That is not chance. That is the quiet, stubborn dedication of the men and women of Aero Contractors, the Engineers who stayed back long after their shifts ended, the pilots who kept current on their licenses even when there were no Aircraft to fly, the cabin crew, the ground staff, and every support team who kept this airline alive through years of uncertainty. Today, we honour them, not with words alone, but with a
solemn commitment to never again take their sacrifice for granted,” he added.
Recall that Aero Contracts commenced services in 1959 as a charter and crop-spraying operation, before becoming a vital lifeline to the oil and gas industry. It’s major backbone was rotary wing operation, with the support of its defunct foreign technical management that carried Nigerians to places no road could reach, and through the training school that has shaped generations of Nigerian pilots and engineers, the airline was able to establish itself as a flagship of Nigerian airline industry.
In the year 2000, it launched scheduled passenger services covering most cities in Nigeria and the West Coast, making it the longest serving schedule career in Nigeria today.
On the 4th of January 2018, after fourteen years in which no Nigerian airline had performed a C-check on a Boeing 737, the airline’s Engineers, working from its hangar in Ikeja completed Nigeria’s first indigenous C-check: the first of its kind not just in Nigeria, but across the whole of West and Central Africa.
Earlier, the Chairman of the event, Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire, said that 67 years is a milestone in the life of an airline and that it is not a joke .
He praised the management and staff for making it happen and wish the airline more years ahead.
Senator Adegbonmire was represented by Mrs Toyin Iyayi.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), Mr. Gbenga Alade represented by Alhaji Usman Abubakar, said that the Corporation felicitates with the management and staff of the airline on this occasion of its 67th anniversary.
He stated that the gamble which AMCON took on Aero Contractors is beginning to bear fruits.and that the Corporation is very happy with Aero.
He thanked God for what has happened in the living of Aero in the last 67 years.
On his part, the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Chris Najomo, commended Aero Contractors for achieving this feat, adding that 67 years is a milestone in the existence of the airline.
He said that today’s event is a celebration of the mission, vision and sustainance of the airline.
Najomo,who was represented by the Regional Manager, NCAA, Mrs. Olubukola Teriba, said that the theme of the anniversary, “Going the Extra Miles” was apt, adding that aviation is not only about people but also about safety, professionalism and service
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