Virgin Nigeria recruitment and developments
Virgin Nigeria came out with a very good strategy into the market.That of adverts,product pricing(tickets) allthough initially, they did not do this, probably due to not having a good enough understanding of the market,that they would have to win customers over.They also targetted flight crew from the significant competitor(s).This overall was a good strategy to get into the market.
The selection process also was taken seriously,in order to get the proper type of people into the organization.
Where I see they have blundered is the renumeration for their Pilots.I was told by a source that the pay for the Pilots,is not in tune with the present day situation in the country.The meagre sums provided for Transport,feeding etc.I do not want to give figures so it does not seem as if the intention is to cause any embarassment.For instance,the figure for transport,I was told is not even enough to buy more than a few litres of fuel into a car.
Even though Virgin Nigeria is just starting,they must not forget that their flightcrew will make or break the image they want to portray.Do they want scruffy looking hungry and dejected Pilots working for them.The pay is even below what applies in the Nigerian Industry,not to talk of Internationally.One of the local Airlines,that jacked up their pay to retain their crew making their basic pay(For Captains)N450,000 with an extra N50,000 for every year served in the company.People who have been there 4 years have a basic of N650,000.They are then payed an allowance of N10,000 for every day flying.You can calculate what the takehome will be.It will be dificult to get people leave their comfortable jobs and come to fly New generation planes,while they won`t even be able to afford "three square meals".
I saw a post for easyjet recently.They have Captains earning up to 100,000 pounds per annum.These are Pilots thyat you would find flying the same aeroplanes like those here.Is it being infered that the Nigerian Pilots are inferior, that it is considered to pay tham below what the market dictates.I think it is not too late for Virgin Nigeria to accept its mistakes and march on ,flying a new leaf. These are the people that will be responsible for the safety of their passengers caring for their very expensive equipment