Expatriate Pilots in Nigeria...
 

The current influx of foreign pilots in the Nigerian Aviation industry has increased tremenduosly. Just a listen on domestic flights in Nigeria airspace today, the chatter on our radios is no different from a regional flight in Europe!

Is our aviation industry on a gradual steady growth in this part of the world and is the influx ot Expatriate Pilots in our industry a good thing.
Or is it a fact that some of our employers prefer foreigners, who work for a short time, demand for higher pay and also cost the airlines here in Lagos 5 times the pay of a Nigerian Captain just to maintain their upkeep so they can just acquire experience and leave to work for other companies!!!

The fact is I have noticed this trend in our major airlines and feel that this kind of expenses for a carrier in Nigeria with the current state of affairs in the worlds economy is not going to do much good to our industry.

Are the locals working at bringing in more local pilots and should we not be looking at a situation were foreign captains are only here to maintain our airlines operational by providing captains, while their first officers, or local captains, clocked up enough hours to qualify for their commands.

Indian pilots and the Indian DGCA, have said they want all foreign contract pilots out of the country by next year.
The Japanese pilots had their long time American contract pilots terminated earlier this year.
Singapore Airlines have gotten rid of as many foreign pilots as they have been able to. Recently Moroccan pilots are now doing what they can to nationalise their own airline.

Balewa

Only an observation about Royal Air Maroc: There are not expat pilots flying there, only those pay to fly from Eaglejet.
They want nationalise Atlas blue and RAM express but for pilots provided by national school, not any moroccan pilot.

Expat pilots are there to fill a gap which can't be filled by locals, either temporarily or permanently. Yes they do cost more to employ because the expenses involved in being an expat are usually higher than being a local, the living and working environment may not be as attractive as home and they probably want to save some money out of the deal or why bother ?

Singapore Airlines uses expats because there aren't enough local pilots, and the expats can easily be got rid of during downturns or employed during upturns thereby keeping crew numbers as required.

India will still need expats once things pick up again. A 200 hour wonder is still years away from being able to replace a 6000 hour captain.

With Nigerias less than outstanding air safety record, having expats employed in training, or flying sophisticated new types may be an insurance requirement ?

Of course you could ban Nigerians from being expats themselves, forcing them to only fly for Nigerian companies. Once they all return home problem solved.

And don't you think about flying for a foreign company either, incase some local thinks you are stealing his job.:rolleyes:

Couldn't agree more with your comments Metro man, but why stop with pilots.
Kick out all of the expats from Nigeria and force all the Nigerians working abroad to return home and fill the positions vacated by the expats. That should satisfy the majority of the Nigerians who post on this website!!
If the Nigerians working abroad were made to feel as unwelcome as expats in Nigeria, they might even return home voluntarily.

the reason for all the expats in nigeria? well that's not so hard is it... one word: SAFETY

SAY IT
 

Yeah right' NIGERIANS and NIGERIA is UNSAFE without EXPATS At least thats what some n..bskull believes:confused::=

It's alright to feel threatened by a flood of foreign pilots
 

But I think a formal,well structured and objective plan{by NCAA of course},to reserve,for instance,entry or low-hour positions for locals would be appreciated by my brother Balewa.
Or has the generation which more-or-less wasted as Nigeria Airways wet-leased four,and at times six B737s from GPA over a five year period forgotten what happened so soon?Some 47 indigenes trained at Zaria,then a world-class flying school,were sacked by NA for resisting the silly policy.And listen,gentlemen,those fellas were good.
We all know of certain companies which never ever employ locals to certain positions(but then,isn't this territory of our immigration authorities,never mind NCAA?)In 1998,a Kabo Air 1-11 captain,also a graduate of an American university, showed me an ad for foreign pilots in a copy of Flight magazine,revealing the names of several colleagues who were qualified for the post.I still remember the pain he felt.
Nevertheless,foreign pilots should be welcome for a role which contributes to the overall well-being of the industry,for they could offer rewards to the aerial component of our society.But I don't think places for them if qualified locals go without should be encouraged.Like was pointed out elsewhere in this thread,that's what Japan and India and Morocco do.

There's nothing wrong with Nigerian pilots (I've flown with many very good ones! ).... there is however, imho, something wrong with the oversight and commitment to 'training', at all levels, departments, and ranks, by various airlines in Nigeria.... though I should add a rider that this is not a problem entirely peculiar to Nigeria.

People generally want to do a good job but (in a lot of Africa, and elsewhere) they are hamstrung by out-of-date practices, lack of training and lack of on-going support.

The blame for this lays at the top, not on the troops.

...yo, yo, yo OldKingCoal !
 

....yeah, brath, that's spot on ! ! !

Like it or not you can believe it... Until you get into the sim with these guys you would not believe how bad they can be... dangerous doesn't begin to cover it... It's not uncommon for them to walk out mid training with comments about it being too hard and shouldn't be asked of them... many go home with nothing more than a letter of attendance and typically they need to be taught basic IR skills... I could go on but ... :ugh:
Why this should be I don't pretend top know... maybe something to do with the poor selection process... Maybe daddy is in some ministry or other...

Nigerian pilots are bad and dangerous and all that......what else is there to say, even calling us "these guys" ooh well at least were getting somewhere with the topic....

The last thing I would like us to do here is compare notes on who is more dangerous than the other, which I find absolutely useless. I never called expat pilots anything other than Pilots and asked a simple question.

With the current situation in Lagos and the small growth in our industry which we are currently experiencing in Nigeria that is, suffice to say, is providing some sort of employment for Expats whom I believe with the current trend elsewhere in the world have nothing else to lean on but fly with us here in Naija I believe such statements and insults should be avoided. :=

I think I am in a position to believe that such comments are untrue and very badly taken too....

Balewa

If you don't like the answer...
 

Don't ask the question! Or did you really expect a lot of expats to pop up and say, "Oh yes! I am there but to no real purpose. I just want to take the bread out of the mouth of some deserving local pilot!" Get real. You know what we are like, black and white, selfish bastards to a man, forced to make our way in this hard, cold world we call "aviation," just because it beats working for a living.

If you are really looking for it, I think you know where to find sympathy, yes?

You cannot have a country that is ranked so low for corruption (second or third-worst, last time I checked) and expect its aviation scene to smell of roses, can you? That isn't down to the lack of ability on the part of most Nigerian pilots, just that your aviation scene suffers in the same way that your whole country does.

Just to write of aviation in general, the public pay attention to the disasters, not to the way we usually get it right 999 times out of a thousand. In the same way we tend to overlook the highly capable Nigerians, since pilots are supposed to be highly capable anyway, and just remember the few who really never should have been let near an aircraft. (I know I have a few of those burnt into what is left of my brain after the Gulder had done its work.)

Too, many of the best have voted with their feet and left Nigeria to work abroad. I can name about ten of them just off the top of my head.

I spent a long time in Nigeria and a short time in Algeria. I can tell you, hand on heart, that Algeria was like a paid vacation compared to Nigeria. Why that should be, I leave it to you to guess.

Old King Coal, could not have said it any better:ok:

Balewa!!! Whats this all about.

Left a pm for u dear boy, are u going to be there on thursday.

:confused: then I wonder why so expatriate pilots look for employment overthere????

Have a look at the back pages of Flight International, not alot of jobs around at the moment are there ? Bills haven't stopped coming in though.

With Nigeria's dismal air safety record, do you think any leasing company is going to hand over expensive aircraft without being VERY careful as to who will be flying them ? Do you think insurance companies will provide multi million dollar coverage at affordable premiums ?

I would be happy with a Nigerian pilot flying me, provided it was in a competent airline in a country with a competent civil aviation authority. If someone has earnt a command at eg British Airways then he is of a high standard.

However Nigerians have proven conclusively that they are unable to run a safe system in their own country by themselves. In this they are not alone, I fly with Indonesian expat captains quite happily, but no way will I fly on an Indonesian airline.

Motivation....
 

Well, it could have had something to do with being paid rather well... there is that.

As one ages it can have to do with being some wrinkly old pisswreck yet being able to snap one's fingers and have beautiful young girls do your perverted bidding, plus those little blue pills are available off-prescription.

Some of us are crazy enough to enjoy that buzz of life in an edgy place. Here in Germany it can be so boring! You see a red traffic light, you stop, green, you go. In Lagos, assuming you can find a traffic light that works, you still have to try and figure out your safest option.

Anyway, don't take it personally, Balewa. I am sure there must be a place for everyone in aviation, you included. When I got to Lagos back in 1981 the stated goal was to be able to do without expat pilots, when there were very few local ones. Now you do have quite a few local pilots compared to then, even though you also have even more expats in absolute terms.

Then, as now, you had locals moaning about the unfairness of it all, oyingbos coming to be paid big money that should be going to local pilots. The late Jerry A. was one of the biggest muckrakers on that front and many others until his voice was stilled in a hail of bullets. Do you really want to take his place in railing against your system? Don't make the expats out to be the problem when they are just a symptom of what is wrong with Nigeria itself.

BALEWA, I've decided to help you out. I can get you an airline job straight away through my contacts in recruitment. Please send me US$2500 via Western Union to facilitate the process. :E

I can do that for $2250! Guaranteed. Also, I know someone who died and left $10 million in a blocked account. All I need from you is.....

Very funny :} :D just wet my pants :{