AVIATION experts have identifed the absence of a national carrier, low flight hours after graduation, low insurance cover and lack of implementation of expatriate quota policy as reasons for unemployment of fresh pilots.
The experts are Gbolahan Abatan, an aircraft engineer, Sheri Kyari, Executive Director of Centre for Aviation Safety and Research (CAS-R), and Isaac Balami, president, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE).
They spoke to The Nation in Lagos.
Other experts who also spoke include Captain Ore, retired airline and Captain Ibrahim Mshelia, chief executive officer, West Link Airlines.
Abatan claimed fresh graduate pilots were not being employed because their flight hours at graduation were insufficient.
Abatan, who is the Chief Executive of Air First, said the experience of a pilot is required before he can get a job.
He added that many fresh pilots only have 230 hours instead of between 500 and 700 flight hours required to fly certain categories of aircraft.
The AirFirst boss pointed out that pilots, including those who fly jumbo aircraft, such as Airbus 380 and Boeing 787, started with smaller airplanes.
“Every pilot started flying from General Aviation. Nobody jumps into a Boeing 747 to become a pilot of Boeing 747,” he said.
Abatan said further that in the United States, pilots from the flying schools do not look for jobs in bigger airlines, such as Delta and United because they will not be employed since they do not have the required flying hours.
To solve the problem, Abatan advocated an improved capacity for general aviation. He added that Nigeria has this problem because it had not trained pilots for a long time.
He also added that while pilots were not being trained, some airlines were employing foreign pilots to work for them because it was cheaper to do so.
To correct this, he said aviation should have a functional general aviation.
“One of the first steps is the general aviation. In most countries they have general aviation functioning. General aviation is the beginning.”
But Kyari has a different solution. He said the establishment of a national carrier would assist to resolve the problem of young pilot unemployment.
He said: ”The national carrier will provide employment, especially for the teeming young pilots that are seeking jobs in the industry.
“It would also serve as a training ground for such pilots to grow.Training will also be enhanced and many other benefits will accrue to the nation.”
Balami bemoaned compliance with expatriate quota by the government, which allows for the employment of foreign pilots to the detriment of young Nigeria pilots.
Balami said: “I think the government should look at it very well to see how to reverse the trend and put a policy in place to encourage Nigerian pilots to get jobs.The local content policy is not working the way it should. “
Captain Ore, who is the President of Aviation Round Table (ART), called for provision of more aviation training facilities, such as flying schools and Aviation Training Organisations (ATO) to provide jobs for young pilots.
He added that the foremost aviation training school in Nigeria, the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, should be upgraded.
“The influx of expatriate pilots has become so worrisome that expatriate quota has become a big issue in the aviation industry,” he said.
Mshelia, a pilot, called on the government to assist young Nigerian pilots get jobs.
He said: ”The unemployment rate among Nigerian pilots trained within and outside Nigeria, which in the last count from the website of the Unemployed Pilots Union in Nigeria is over 150 in number.”
He also said the new Civil Aviation Policy should address employment of qualified Nigerians before extending similar opportunities to foreigners.
“What we need to consider is getting the pilot licence is one thing and getting the experience to be considered for employment is another, which can only be achieved by flying.”
“The reason for the high rate of unemployment is simple. There is no legislation, which gives opportunity for employment of Nigerians with same qualification with foreigners.”
But the Chief Executive Officer of NCAT, Captain Chinyere Kalu, said a new government policy on pilot employment would address the problem.
In the past, she said airlines employed pilots and trained them.
She wondered why the practice was abandoned.
Kalu said: “
What the airlines are shying away from is training the pilots to get the type rating. If the pilots are going for type rating on Boeing 737, for example, it is going to cost the airline a reasonable amount of money.
“There is fear among the airlines that after training the students, they may leave. So, I suggest that there should be a policy that will say once an operator trains you, you have to work for that operator for a minimum number of years. I believe that will help.”
She also said, “These pilots have the basic training and basic qualification. The good thing is that with all these regional aircraft springing up in the industry, there is provision for a soft landing for the newly graduated students. They could work for them and build hours and maybe have a jet engine rating. This will be like a stepping stone for help them to go to the next level.
“But unfortunately, many of these regional jets are manned by foreigners. If there will be a policy put in place that will insist that our own local people should be the ones flying the aircraft, it will help. In the USA, that is what happens.
