Experts raise concern over influx of foreign pilots, others

According to the Guardian, unless the Federal Government moves fast, Nigeria may find itself in serious shortage of
indigenous pilots and aircraft engineers as expatriates are fast dominating the aviation industry. 


Already, there are about 170 registered unemployed pilots in the country. The Niger Delta has trained another 30, who are about to graduate from schools in South Africa, just as Kano State is also said to have trained another 100 pilots in Jordan.
The implication is that in the next few months, Nigeria will have over 300 unemployed pilots, who have been trained at a great expense but may not be employed. 

Investigation by The Guardian shows that there are about 200 foreign registered aircraft with Nigerian interest operating in and out of the country, and at least 75 of them are almost permanently based in Nigeria. 


This means that there is a potential to employ about 225 at the least and about 800 pilots at the maximum for general aviation. This translates to keeping at least $96,000,000 within the country's economy every year in pilots' salaries. 

Rather than employ Nigerian pilots, airlines hire from Eastern Europe, Asia and other parts of the world, the reason many of the aircraft cockpits are dominated by foreign nationals.


Aside Bristow Helicopters and a few other airlines, most Nigerian carriers frequently poach personnel to boost their operations with less regard for training of pilots to take over from the ageing ones. This situation has negative effect on a sector that is safety-driven. 


Since the liquidation of Nigeria Airways, many of the trained and experienced workers have either died or retired, leaving a few that are now being threatened out of existence by the influx of their foreign counterparts. 

President of Aviation Round Table (ART), Captain Dele Ore, said there is need to provide more aviation training facilities such as flying schools and Aviation Training Organisations (ATO) to tackle ageing manpower and dwindling technical skills. 


According to him, the foremost aviation training school in Nigeria, the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, should be upgraded in every possible way to enable it regain its pride of place as Africa's number one training centre. 


"The influx of expatriate pilots and engineers has become so worrisome that expatriate quota has become a big issue in the aviation industry," he said. "Its effect in airline economics can better be imagined. Apart from the huge cost to our airlines, it inevitably leads to capital flight because of the dearth of Nigerian professionals." 


Aviation analyst, Olumide Ohunayo, said the statistics is scary, just as he indicted the relevant institutions and pilots' unions. He noted that the new aviation policy, if implemented to the letter, would help to reduce professional wastage. 


He urged the pilots union to accept that it woke up late to realise the deep rot in the private jet lease and charter operations, adding: "They should brace up to this problem."