NAAPE calls for amendment of Civil Aviation Act

The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) has called for the amendment of the Civil Aviation Act, to provide for their engagement by local and foreign airlines.

The President of the association, Mr Isaac Balami, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

According to him, the act does not have any provision that guarantees the engagement of Nigerian aircraft pilots by foreign airlines as is the case in other countries of the world.

He said that the amendment of the act, as being proposed by the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, would give indigenous pilots and engineers a sense of belonging in the industry.

The Nigerian pilots are not engaged by foreign airlines because there is no policy that mandates them like any other countries around the world.

For example, if you go to a country like Kenya as an aircraft pilot or aircraft engineer, they won’t give you visa for more than three months to work there.

If you must get an extension, you must justify why you want to work in their country for more than three months because for them, it is about technology transfer and creating jobs for their own people.

The Aviation Act has to be amended and until that is done, there is no provision for Nigerian pilots and engineers and that is just the truth.’’

NAAPE president said that even though local airlines were trying their best, many of them lacked the capacity to provide jobs for qualified aircraft pilots and engineers.

He further noted that local airlines were not adequately supported to increase their capacity and enhance operations, adding that the return on investment in the nation’s aviation sector was very low.

Balami explained that local airlines were also being run like one-man business, adding a viable airline business anywhere in the world could not be administered by a sole administrator.

According to him, the government needs to support local operators to be able to compete with their foreign counterparts; other countries usually support their local airlines whenever they have challenges.

When Al Shabab attacked Kenya and it was obvious that the tourism industry went down; Kenya Airways had challenges; they were supported with 500 million dollars to help them survive.

We had Boko Haram and Ebola crises in the last two years in Nigeria when at some point, the airlines had to ground their flights to the North-East and when tour aircraft was on ground, they incurred losses.

There was no intervention from the government and even the so-called intervention fund that was provided some years ago never got to the airlines.

For us, it is a collective responsibility because the government has a role to play, the operators have their own role to play so also the workers, to help grow the industry.’’ he said.

Balami, while commending the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for enforcing discipline among pilots, said it was normal practice to suspend pilots who disobeyed laid down rules governing their operations.

NAN recalls that NCAA recently suspended three pilots for three months after testing positive to alcohol before going to operate flight and recommended them for psychiatric test.