- Domestic Airlines Replacing Expatriate Pilots With Nigerians
The number of expatriate pilots working for domestic airlines in the country is gradually dropping to make way for younger generation of Nigerian pilots.
Data obtained from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority showed that the number of licensed expatriate pilots in the country had dropped from 631 in 2016 to 609 by 2017.
This is despite the fact that the total number of licensed pilots operating in the country increased from 2,226 in 2016 to 2,356 last year, working with the seven passenger airlines, about six cargo airlines, five helicopter companies and other charter airlines.
According to findings, apart from the newer aircraft models that require certain skills set, domestic airlines now opt for more Nigerian pilots.
Air Peace and Med-View Airlines, for instance, employ about 98 per cent indigenous pilots, while Dana Air pilots are about 85 per cent Nigerians.
Investigation showed that domestic airlines were also beginning to invest more in training indigenous aircraft engineers.
The Chief Operating Officer, Dana Air, Obi Mbanuzuo, confirmed in an interview with our correspondent that the airline had increased the employment of Nigerian pilots and engineers.
He said, “We have ‘Nigerianised’ our crew. Before now, we had 60 expatriate engineers; now, it is down to eight; we have trained our local people.
“Our flight deck was also predominantly expatriates; but now, we have mainly Nigerians. We didn’t chase anyone away, it was natural alteration; we trained and replaced. Our first set of trained Nigerian first flight officers has recently been promoted to captains.”
According to the Corporate Communications Manager, Air Peace, Chris Iwarah, apart from some newer model aircraft recently procured by the airline for international services, which require uncommon skills, almost all the carrier’s pilots are Nigerians.
There have been calls in various quarters for domestic airlines to engage more Nigerians as pilots due to the rising number of unemployed indigenous pilots.
There are five aviation training schools in the country, and they are the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria; International Helicopter Flying School, Enugu; Landover Aviation Training School and Aeroconsult Training School, both in Ikeja, Lagos; and the International Aviation College, Ilorin.
According to findings, the NCAT and IAC train about 20 to 30 pilots each year, while the other schools train people in certain levels of airline management and also take cabin crew courses.
But many of the trained pilots are still unemployed.
A former Managing Director of the defunct Nigeria Airways Limited, Capt. Mohammed Joji, said the efforts by the airlines to employ more indigenous pilots were commendable.
He added, however, that they must also be careful as many of them still get aircraft on wet lease – a form of short-term leasing agreement where the lessor provides an aircraft, complete crew, maintenance and insurance.
“We have to be careful if people are still interested in investing in wet lease; that has to be considered. Wet lease means people are bringing in their money and also want to bring in their pilots. If we were self-sufficient, we would not even need expatriate pilots; but until then, we must beware,” he stated.
Aviation security consultant and Secretary General of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative, Group Capt. John Ojikutu (retd), however, stated that the drop in the number of expatriate pilots was still negligible, considering the number of Nigerian pilots who needed jobs.
“We can’t say we have achieved much until it drops by at least 30 to 50 per cent. Until it drops further, it will not make any sense,” he said.
According to him, there are still many unemployed Nigerian pilots roaming the streets in search of jobs.
Ojikutu noted, “There are quite a lot of pilots who are hanging around, but most of these airlines bring in these expatriates not because of anything, but for capital flight. That figure that shows their number is reducing may be true but is it reasonable enough? The difference is still not much.
“If in 2016 we had over 600 and in 2017, it reduced to 500, it means about 100 of them have left, that would have been better. The onus is on the airlines; if we really want to have more Nigerian pilots, they should absorb them. But to absorb them most times, the airlines ask them to go for type-rating with their money and where will many of them get between $100,000 and $200,000 for that from? These are people who are looking for jobs.”
He stated that in the days of Nigeria Airways, the government sponsored the training of many pilots, a responsibility, which he noted many domestic airlines had refused to take.
“The entire pilots, who were trained by the Nigeria Airways, were quickly employed by other airlines when it was liquidated; they are now old and there is no space for more pilots, and because of that, airlines go out to get expatriates. They bring them in, pay them in dollars rather than absorb and train Nigerian pilots,” he added.
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