There are very many suitably qualified pilots in Nigeria that will meet the present recruitment criteria for VN. Many of these pilots now work for the local airlines. There won’t be many sitting under the famous job seekers tree at the local airport. With the proposed terms and conditions going to be offered by VN, it will only make sense for these pilots to consider moving to greener pastures. This is going to put a serious strain on local airlines to retain staff, thus possibly forcing them to improve their conditions. This can only be a win-win situation for the local pilots.
Local Airlines over the years have managed to get their pilots from the ever aging pilot pool. Lack of serious investment in training of new pilots will sure come back to hunt the industry. The Government’s plan, to privatise the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology Zaria, will be a step in the right direction, but it is going to take time and resources to bring the college back to its recognised high international standards. Airline operators must seriously consider, sponsorships schemes for the time being.
Presently, there are age restrictions which prevent pilots over 60 years from flying over and in to certain countries air spaces within Europe and the US, this will limit some pilot’s flight routes. It is therefore very important that steps are taken, sooner rather than later, to bring down the average age of pilots within Nigeria. There is a younger generation of Turbo Prop pilots that could be drawn by VN if there is a review of the recruitment criteria. I can assure you it won’t be very long before ageism will be come a problem. (Age declaration dey, for dem wey no wan gree).
As for the Bulgaria registered A320 aircraft (LZ-BHD) and others, I believe that wet leasing of aircraft will be a short term solution to getting VN off the ground. Bulgaria isn’t part of the EU until 2007. I don’t believe the Bulgaria aircrafts will be dry leased; there is quite a high unemployment rate in that region. A wet lease agreement will surely be beneficial to the Bulgarians.
Training on the A320 takes about 6 weeks and with zero flight time training (no base training required) pilots could go straight from the simulator into line training. With about 20 line training sectors they will be safe enough to operate with an experienced crew until they gain the minimum time to be released.
With relevant agreements between the Bulgarian and Nigerian aviation authorities it will be possible to get the Nigerian Pilots up to speed and fully rated in no time at all. ACN is quite a good example of how things should be done.
If it is going to be the B733 - B739 NG’s, these aircrafts are considered to be a different type rating to the B737-200. Even though there are many rated pilots on the B732, it will take about 4 -6 weeks to get pilots fully trained and checked out.
Everything depends on what aircraft types will be joining VN.