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Airlines operators fault FG’s directive on employment of pilots

By BusinessNews Staff on February 8, 2015

Nigerian airlines are severely criticising the new directive given to them by the federal government stipulating that every aircraft on commercial service must at least have one Nigerian pilot in its cockpit.

This directive was aimed at providing jobs for about 500 Nigerian pilots who are yet to get jobs many years after their training, while indigenous carriers employ expatriates who now dominate the technical area of the airline sub-sector.

Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka who gave the directive on behalf of government in Lagos on Tuesday gave July, 2015 as deadline for airlines to comply with the new regulation, failing which they would be grounded.

But while many airline owners viewed the directive as good because it was meant to create job for indigenous pilots, they noted that it would be practically difficult to enforce the regulation.

One of the indigenous operators told THISDAY on Wednesday that the new directive was good, but that government must provide the funds for further training to accumulate accepted number of hours that would qualify the pilot to be type-rated and be made a co-pilot for a particular aircraft type.

The operator said if government is not ready to fund the training the airlines may revolt and ground their operations before government’s directive to ground them.

“When a pilot finished training as a pilot he may have logged in about 200 flying hours. There is no way you can make a first officer as co-pilot of medium sized equipment and large body aircraft. Insurance insists that you log in minimum of 50 flying hours on that particular aircraft type with about 500 hours flying experience. So where will the pilot get the extra 300 hours flying experience? Insurance want to ensure that the co-pilot will be able to, at least, land the airplane if the pilot in command is incapacitated or if he dies.

“For you to get 500 flying hours and 50 hours experience of the aircraft type, the pilot will have to train on single pilot certified aircraft. Such aircraft are not in Nigeria; so the pilot will have to go overseas to train and get the stipulated minimum hours. So when you say that you want to put a co-pilot in a big body aircraft without meeting these criteria, insurance will not allow you,” the operator said.

Also, the Chairman of Arik Air, Joseph Arumemi-Ikhide told THISDAY that his airline had embarked on training Nigerian pilots and have continued to train them but the challenge is that whenever these pilots complete their training on New Generation aircraft, which the airline operates, they are poached by the Middle East carriers.

So it would be very difficult to carry out the directive given by the federal government, remarking that these Middle East and other airlines go to the training school to get the names of the trainee pilots and when they complete their training the airlines would come to Nigeria and interview and employ them.

“But if you say you want to bond them so that after training they will be able to serve you for given number of years before they leave, the pilot may become scarce during the period of bonding,” the Arik Air Chairman said.

[ThisDay]

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