.. We only laid off contract staff -Aero

Aero Contractors on Thursday sacked over 100 workers from its payroll.

It was gathered that most of those affected were support staff who had spent some few years with the airline as majority of them were not original staff of the airline.

A source who pleaded anonymity stated that those affected by the development were contract staff whose contract had expired with the company.

According to the source, some departments and workers were outsourced by the management, since the airline no longer required their services, it was pertinent for them to be relieved of their jobs, as no staff of the airline was affected by the management decision.

He maintained that what the organization did was not to sack workers, but reduce workforce especially those whose their services were no longer required by the airline, adding that the reduction in staff cut across all the departments in the company as over 100 personnel were affected by the decision.

“Those laid off were not staff of our airline. You know in Aero, some departments and duties are outsourced. Son what the management did was not to renew their contracts once it expired. I can tell you that our staff are in tact and we don’t have the plans to retrench workers. We didn’t have the need of those outsourced and we felt they should be withdrawn from our services”, he stated.

A letter to one of the affected workers said that the sacking was as a result of the ongoing restructuring in the airline.
The letter reads in part, “Dear colleague, in the light of the ongoing restructuring at Aero, we regret to inform you that your services are no longer required and employment with SBL terminated with immediate effect.
“Please, return all company properties to your Manager/Supervisor by 8am on 28/04/2016. We regret any inconvenience caused.”

Meanwhile, a source close to the airline who also pleaded anonymity, explained that the management did not sack workers, but only seized its contractual agreement with one of its contractors, Skyborne Limited.

Responding to the development, the media consultant of the airline, Mr. Simon Tumba said In the course of reorganising and repositioning its business, Aero Contractors reviewed its relationship with Skyborne by cutting down some of the services required from the company.

Tumba noted that his will help the company to invest more resources to enhance customer service.

In his words: “For the record Aero has not sacked any of its staff”.