Domestic airlines bleed as expatriates pocket N40bn annually

Despite struggling to survive the vagaries of recession, domestic airlines and charter operators are currently spending about N40 billion annually to pay expatriate pilots and engineers working in the nation’s aviation industry.

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But there are fears among stakeholders that this huge wage bill beside robbing qualified Nigerian pilots and engineers of gainful employment, is also straining the purses of the debt-ridden local operators and may therefore not be sustainable. Investigations reveal that most operators are often  compelled to employ expatriates as a pre-leasing conditionality from the foreign lessors. 

Though the number of private jets has increased from 20 to 150 over a period of six years, while the number of commercial airplanes also increased from 20 to 100 within the same period, this growth has not reflected in the employment of indigenous professionals.

“These expatriates are paid handsomely in foreign currencies far more than what their Nigerian counterparts earn. It is pure capital flight because they take the money away. But when you have Nigerian crew, the money is kept here. The government should sit up and the NCAA too,” he stated. 

Daily Sun investigations reveal that local carriers have at least 500 expatriate pilots on their payroll, largely foisted on them by offshore aircraft leasing companies. Consequently, the local carriers are forced to cough out about N3 billion monthly to remunerate them. 

An expatriate pilot earns between $10 and $13,000 (N3.8-N5 million) monthly while most local pilots (captains) earn about N2.5 million, with first officers earning an average of N1.2 million. 

It was in an attempt to address this imbalance that the Minister of State, Aviation, Hadi Sirika, recently released a new policy on expatriate engagement as a way of ending the neglect of local professionals.

Sirika said the policy will insulate the expatriate quota policy from abuse and ensure that foreigners only occupy areas Nigerian professionals are insufficient. 

To further stimulate the depleted manpower stock in the industry, the Federal Government had, in the last five years, trained over 127 Niger Delta ex-agitators as aircraft pilots and maintenance engineers under the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) in various institutions in North America, Europe, Asia and South Africa while Kano State trained about 100 youths in Jordan. These were in addition to those trained by aviation agencies, airlines and individuals, thus giving a combined figure of about 2,000 personnel armed with requisite certificates and ready to be injected into the nation’s aviation sector. 

But industry watchers are,  concerned that despite the huge investment in the training of aviation professionals, majority have been left to rot away as available jobs are being taken over by expatriates. 

The President, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Captain Nogie Meggison, in a recent interview, disclosed that no fewer than 1,000 foreign pilots are engaged by both local and foreign registered airlines with over 500 foreign aircraft engineers employed in the country. 

A local airline source who does not want his name in print told Daily Sun that the issue of quota system abuse stems from political and operational reason. He also said some offshore lessors insist their airplanes must be flown by pilots of their choice as one of the conditions to seal the lease. 

“For instance, an aircraft leasing firm in South Africa tells you the airplane must have a South African pilot, especially if it is a wet lease. That could also be one of the conditions some European aircraft leasee, would put on the table for Nigerian operators. So, what do you do? You must obey because you need the aircraft to expand and operate an efficient service. And again, you pay them in dollars and dollar is scarce. You can appreciate what we are going through,” he said. 

Industry experts have, however, blamed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for not enforcing the expatriate quota rules, which state that any foreign registered airplane operating in the country must be de-registered six months after operations to bear Nigerian registration. 

As at March this year, figures from NCAA show that the industry had 2,269 active licensed pilots. Out of this figure, 1,646 are Nigerians while foreigners are 623 in number. There are also additional 59 pilots with valid certificates but not licensed by Nigeria. The figure also indicated that are about 300 expatriate aircraft maintenance engineers as at March 2017. 

Commenting on the development, an aviation consultant and former Head of Airlines’ Cabin Crew Association, Olumide Ohunayo, in a telephone interview, said the influx of foreigners was encouraging capital flight since they are paid in foreign currencies, especially the US dollars.

According to him, for a country smarting from forex shortage, engaging foreigners to further drain the reserves should never be encouraged. 

“The rules are there. If you bring in a foreign registered aircraft and crew, you have to re-register that aircraft locally after six months. But the NCAA is not enforcing this. It just barks but never bites and it is what the local airlines are latching on. 

The disparity often causes in-house friction between local and foreign employees. 

Interestingly, the Minister of State for Aviation, Sirika, penultimate week, said the government has released a policy meant to regulate the engagement of expatriates in the sector. 

He said the move was to check the quality and number of foreign workers who flock into Nigeria claiming to be expatriates, including those with questionable credentials. 

“This policy will help to engage the Nigerian teeming professionals who do not have jobs. We are eager to correct certain imbalances and ensure proper development of the aviation industry.   

“There is no reason why we cannot fix the aviation sector now, especially as a seasoned aviator heads the industry in Nigeria. More so, we have three other Nigerians (President, General Secretary and Second Vice President) at the leadership of ICAO Council, the highest aviation body in the world,” he said. 

Sirika further pointed out that the establishment of a national carrier was on course, adding that once the necessary approvals are given, the project will come into fruition and help address the challenge of paucity of jobs for aviation professionals.