30 Aviation Safety Inspectors, Pilots, Resign Over Poor Salary- NAAPE

Nearly 30 Aviation Safety Inspectors have resigned from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority for good paying jobs abroad, while pilots and engineers are resigning their role at the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) due to poor salaries.

The National Association Of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers revealed this in a communique sent to THE WHISTLER on Friday.

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The communique is sequel to the meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) and other Delegates of the Association which was concluded on Friday, 30th July 2021, at Hotel Interconnect, Gwarinpa, Abuja.

NAAPE said, “The agency’s staff are still being paid based on the 2013 Staff Condition of Service. In recent years, nearly thirty (30) qualified and seasoned Aviation Safety Inspectors have resigned from the Regulatory agency and sought employment with airlines and other international organizations due to their poor remuneration that is not consistent with their education and experience.

“This poor remuneration of the Inspectors poses serious threats on safety as there are no longer sufficient qualified Inspectors to carry out safety oversight on operators, and the remaining Inspectors who are over-worked and clearly de-motivated would most likely fail to satisfactorily perform their job functions which are very critical to the sustenance of safety within the Nigerian aviation industry.”

NAAPE said it has equally observed that quite a number of Pilots and Engineers from the country’s aviation college in Zaria were resigning due to poor remunerations.

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The umbrella body of Pilots and Engineers called for the harmonisation of the salaries of Pilots and Engineers in NCAT to be at par with their counterparts in private aviation establishments.

The association also demanded for the harmonization of salaries and wages of all Nigerian Aviation Agencies.

The association said many airlines and aircraft operators are in the habit of paying their pilots based on the sector payment methodology.

The sector payment to pilots is calculated based on the number of successful flights a pilot performs on a daily basis, and has been perceived to have very grave safety implications.

NAAPE said, “For the purpose of earning more money, pilots could be negatively induced to attempt flying when an aircraft is unserviceable, when they are not medically fit to fly, when they are under intense pressure, when there are unfavourable weather conditions that may endanger flight, and to fly beyond the maximum hours stipulated by Nig.CARs 8.12.1.4.”

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It also lamented that the incidents of bird strikes within the vicinity of our airports have continued to increase.

The association noted that the problem has hiked the running-costs of airlines and aircraft operators.

It revealed that huge sums of money are often expended in order to rectify these defects.

NAAPE called on the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria “to double its efforts towards reducing the numbers of bird strike incidents on our airports by reviewing the practice of grass cutting on the day when birds are most likely to be attracted.”

It added, “There were reports that several aviation employers are in the habit of not remitting staff pension contributions into their respective Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA). Most of these required remittances are overdue for years despite the fact that these pensions are deducted from staff gross salaries.

“NAAPE frowns at this anomaly and hereby mandates all concerned employers to not only remit such overdue staff pensions into the respective Retirement Savings Account (RSA) of staff but also ensure that the requirements of the Pension Scheme are always strictly adhered to.”

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