Monarch airline staff agree to pay cuts of up to 30%

Monarch says its staff have agreed to pay cuts of up to 30% to secure the future of the airline.

It said its employees had voted overwhelmingly in favour of the plan, following discussions with unions.

Monarch's chief executive, Andrew Swaffield, said the vote was "a step forward" in the company's re-organisation.

On Tuesday the firm said it was in talks with investors Greybull Capital to sell a majority stake.

Mr Swaffield added that there were still "further hurdles to be overcome" but that the company had secured future investments from Greybull.

"This is firm progress for Monarch, its employees and for its customers," he said.

Jim McAuslan, General Secretary of the British Airline Pilots' Association (Balpa), said pilots had made "major sacrifices to secure the future of this important British company".

"We welcome the announcement that Greybull are moving towards securing their position as majority shareholders in Monarch," he said.

Petroleum industry, catalyst for employment generation

The petroleum industry has been identified as a catalyst for employment generation and economic development, especially in the areas of the gas, petroleum refining, petrochemical and fertilizer.

This is one of the observations made at a recently concluded international conference on the gainful employment potentials in the oil and gas sector, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Speaking more on the success of the conference, Prof Godwin Igwe, of the Centre for Gas, Refining & Petrochemicals, Institute of Petroleum studies, University of Port Harcourt, said a number of other observations were made.

According to Igwe, the following observations were made: