By Chinelo Obogo
The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) has warned that the recent directive by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), restricting licensed flight crew members to one airline, rather than multiple carriers, could be counterproductive, if there are no incentives for airlines to employ and train younger pilots that are not type-rated.
A type rating is a specific certification or specialised license for pilots that allow them to fly and demonstrate proficiency in operating a specific aircraft model.
NAAPE President, Abednego Galadima, told Daily Sun that Nigeria has a wealth of young, unemployed pilots who require employment and training to become type-rated.
He, however, pointed out, domestic airlines are not offering them opportunities, instead focusing their efforts on the few type-rated pilots in circulation.
He said, “The problem with the NCAA’s policy is that when you have more aircraft chasing very few qualified captains, then you begin to have those kinds of problems, particularly with the rest hours that the pilots will have to observe. So you leave a gap. Sometimes, when a captain gets a job, they use their rest hours with one company to work for another company, which can be stressful on him. In this case, the NCAA has the responsibility to protect the pilots, the airlines and prevent any accident from happening. But what we are saying is that there has to be deliberate policy of type-rating young Nigerian pilots to shore up their numbers. Most of our young pilots are not type-rated because they don’t have sufficient flying hours and they can only increase their numbers if they are employed and trained.
“If you have young pilots that just finished flying these trainer aircraft, they need type-rating and grooming, that is how they can be useful but these airlines are not training anybody. They don’t employ these young pilots; therefore they are jobless and the few type-rated pilots we have who are captains, you see the airlines jostling over them, then you find them having job oppourtunities in two places. Many airlines don’t employ young pilots because they are not willing to train them; they just want ready-made stuff. That is why we want to government to come up with a policy to have a middle ground for these young pilots to have the oppourtunity to be type-rated and help them to increase their flying hours.”
Citing the instance of Nigerian Airways, Galadima said the defunct national carrier regularly employed and trained a lot of young pilots but now that there is a liberalised market, every airline wants to have the best pilots, so all they are all scrambling for the few type-rated pilots available.
“There should be deliberate incentives for the airlines to pick these young ones. Just like the federal government has come up with the policy for employment to go to the youth, there should be incentives for the airlines to absorb some of these young pilots and train them. So once government is able to give you certain incentives, it will help them to pick these guys and give them the training, leveraging on the incentives that government will give them. So in in that way, we have a very smooth succession planning, and we have smooth replacement for some of the captains that are already retiring.
“The NCAA’s policy is draconian because they are not providing alternatives. These airlines need good hands to operate their machines and find a way of multitasking. You have come up with this policy but what would you use to bridge the gap that would exist as a result? What this means is that the airlines will be forced to go to the international market and bring in expatriates and it is not right because you don’t expect the airlines to buy good machines without anyone flying them,” he said.