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Chinelo Obogo,[email protected]
Rising cost of aircraft maintenance popularly referred to as Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul (MRO) in aviation parlance is digging a big hole in the pockets of domestic airline operators with the continued outsourcing of manpower needed to repair and conduct safety checks of their equipment on a regular basis.
As passenger traffic in Nigeria and around the world increases, (according to IATA) more aircraft usage will be required ferry them and this in turn raises the need for maintenance. It is estimated that airlines spend a minimum of 40 percent of operation cost on jet fuel, while the second on the cost list is maintenance of the many ageing aircraft owned by domestic operators. For over 50 years, Nigeria has not been able to build a vibrant MRO facility, making domestic airlines to spend huge amounts of money on hiring expatriate manpower to maintain their aircraft and thus putting a huge strain on their finances.
According to the Minister for Aviation, Hadi Sirika, domestic airlines spend at least $1.8 million on C-check on Boeing 737 aircraft. As it is in the case of vehicles, newer aircraft are more fuel efficient than older ones and only very few domestic airlines in Nigeria can afford a fleet of brand new planes.
With the increase in passenger traffic in Nigeria, airlines now more than ever, require highly skilled and efficient engineers to ensure that overhauls and maintenance is carried out to the optimum level. Unfortunately, the decrepit infrastructure in many of Nigeria’s 26 airports contributes to the wear and tear of planes and the damage caused by bad runways contribute to the increasing need for maintenance.
To meet the increasing demands of aircraft maintenance, Aero Contractors set up an MRO facility to conduct checks on planes within and outside Nigeria. But the challenge however has been how to ensure a steady stream of supply of quality manpower to run the MRO.
To address this problem, the Chief Executive Officer of Aero, Captain Ado Sanusi, said the company has partnered with the Nigerian College of Aviation (NCAT), Zaria, to offer three months On- the -Job Training (OJT) for its engineering students.
Recently, Aero Contractors signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NCAT at the school’s premises in Zaria to make provision for its students to be sent to the Lagos facility yearly for training after which the best 10 trainees would be given automatic employment.
After the MoU was signed, Sanusi said: “As an MRO, we are mindful of replacing our workforce and the best thing to do is to go and partner with a known institution that can supply the manpower to ensure they are trained and then when they come to your facility, they will understand your own maintenance procedures. It is during the on the job training that they will get the experience and pursue their careers. Some of them will have interest in different fields and that is why we want to encourage them to pursue their dreams. This is a very important MoU to sign as an MRO because we will now have a steady supply of quality manpower to our organisation.
“When I came here, I was pleasantly surprised to see their equipment and to hear of the vision of the leadership of the school that they are moving towards the real and long term maintenance of the electronic aircraft that we have. The institution has grown and they have shown that they will start producing students that will meet the challenges of the new maintenance that we are going to enter into. What we have seen on ground is actually beyond what we needed so we are very pleased with the kind of students that we will be receiving.
“This MoU is going to set in motion the annual On the Job Training (OJT) for NCAT student engineers for a three months period to enable them gain practical experience on aircraft maintenance knowledge before proceeding for another specialized intense training at Aero’s Rotary and Fixed Wing Departments. Aero shall expose the student engineers to invaluable experience in our workshops.
“On completion of this training, Aero is pledging an offer of immediate employment to the best 10 student engineers that emerge from the OJT. They shall be distributed five each to our Rotary and Fixed Wing Departments. We have chosen this course of action to demonstrate our unequivocal support to the stated policy of the Federal Government which is to provide employment opportunities for our youths.
“I urge the Federal Government to continue encouraging companies with proven antecedents of human capacity development and employment creation.”
Responding, the NCAT rector, Abdulsalami Mohammed, said he has always desired that when his students graduate, they would not waste their years searching for jobs. He said he is confident in the capacity of students that graduate from the institution and urged more airlines to enter into such meaningful partnerships with the institution.
He said: “We are ready to supply even twice of the manpower that Aero needs and we presently have about 60 students that are due for on the job training next month. Some of them will be going to Aero and some will be going to other airlines. Don’t forget that it is not only the engineering school; we also have other schools whose students require on the ground training.
There is a limit to what you can teach somebody in the classroom and there is a need for him to go out to the field and experience the real life way of doing things. It is my desire to see that our graduates are gainfully employed, so we do whatever we can to improve on what we are doing, so that they can have more employment opportunities.”
“Human capacity development is fundamental to the sustainable development of aviation. However, achieving the goal of sufficient manpower demands sustained synergy and partnership among critical stakeholders. The problem of lack of job oppourtunities in aviation is of great concern to me personally. As the CEO of a training organisation, it is painful to see young qualified Nigerians finding it difficult to secure jobs.
Therefore, it is heartwarming the pledge by Aero Contractors to absorb 10 of NCAT students after the end of their stay. We will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure the aviation sector has well trained and skilled manpower.”
