Despite the stunted growth in the country’s aviation sector, causing airlines to reduce fleet and suspend operations, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of Nigerian pilots employed in the country.
BusinessDay checks show that Nigeria’s eight commercial airlines, which altogether had over 70 aircraft on their fleet, are currently struggling with about 30 to 35 aircraft, thereby causing passenger glut. Yet, the total number of licensed pilots in Nigeria (foreign and Nigerian pilots) increased to 2,260 in 2018, from 2,226 in 2016, according to documents obtained from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
Similarly, the number of licensed (employed) Nigerian pilots grew from 1,300 to 1,739 over the same period, representing approximately 34 percent increase. Experts in the aviation sector have tied this significant increase to the Federal Government’s implementation of expatriate quota system and the rise of charter flight operators in Nigeria.
Hadi Sirika, minister of state for Aviation, said in 2017 that the Federal Government has put in place a policy to regulate the engagement of expatriates in the aviation sector in a bid to help engage Nigerian professionals in aviation, particularly pilots and engineers who do not have jobs.
Sirika said with the policy on ground, the only areas where expatriates would be engaged would be areas where there were no licensed Nigerian professionals to handle. Isaac Balami, former president National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), told BusinessDay that although Nigerian pilots are still going outside the country to practise, many domestic and foreign airlines are now working with Nigerian pilots.
“Hadi Sirika and Muhtar Shaibu Usman, DG of NCAA, have taken this into consideration. There was a time we had a committee where we agreed the expatriate quota should be looked at critically. There has been a lot of improvement,” Balami said. Chris Iwarah, corporate communications manager, Air Peace Limited, told BusinessDay that AirPeace has employed 141 foreign and Nigerian pilots since 2016, with most of them being Nigerian pilots.
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