lusaka sheriff
30th Jul 2005, 07:27
I am a pilot for a commercial air operator in Zambia. This country is a member of ICAO. I will appreciate any help and advice with a problem.
My employer is properly registered with and inspected for compliance by DCA Zambia. As a commercial air operator it pays the appropriate fees for such status, maintains its aircraft to commercial standards and it employs staff who are properly qualified and licensed as commercial pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, etc. This company makes a valuable contribution to Zambia’s economy in the air transport service that it provides, through employment and training provided to nationals, through payments made to local suppliers, and of course in the taxes that it pays. There are other commercial air operators in Zambia, all operating on the same basis and making the same valuable contributions.
The above sounds fine but there is a serious problem being faced by all of the commercial air operators in Zambia. This is unfair competition from a tax-subsidised operator, the Zambia Flying Doctor Service. Since the taxpayers include the commercial air operators, in effect their own taxes are being used against them! The Flying Doctor Service does regular charter flights for businesses, tour operators, etc, in direct competition with legitimate commercial air operators. It can and does charge rates that undercut legitimate commercial air operators because its aircraft and operations are subsidised. For instance, it presumably has in its budget a provision for flights to maintain pilot currency. By using a charter flight for tourists or corporate executives for this purpose its flight costs have already been covered by the taxpayers so that any fee that it receives, which is deliberately set at less than the economic rate that non-subsidised commercial air operators have to charge, is sheer profit, unfairly gained at the expense of the country’s legitimate commercial air operators!
There is definitely an adequate provision of commercial air operators based in different parts of Zambia, which has sufficient spare capacity to absorb the traffic that is currently being unfairly pilfered from them by this tax-subsidised operation. My own employer and other commercial air operators have had to do medevac flights when there was no government funded FDS medevac aircraft available. (Why - perhaps busy carrying paying tourists or corporate executives instead of being available for the proper purpose?) The commercial air operators are quite capable of doing whatever medevac flights are required. Therefore there is no practical reason for the existence of a tax-subsidised operation that is unfairly competing in Zambia’s air transport market.
A number of commercial air operators and pilots in Zambia are seriously concerned with the unfair competition they are facing and the detrimental economic impact it is having. In discussions someone mentioned that they thought there might be some sort of ICAO or IATA rule prohibiting the use of subsidised aircraft, particularly those owned by or supported by governments, in unfair competition with legitimate commercial air operations. Is this so? If so, please let me know where I can find such a rule.
In addition, we will appreciate any other help or advice anyone is able to provide that will help us to eliminate this unfair competition and obtain a level playing field in Zambia’s air transport industry, to the long term benefit of the country’s economy and its people.
My employer is properly registered with and inspected for compliance by DCA Zambia. As a commercial air operator it pays the appropriate fees for such status, maintains its aircraft to commercial standards and it employs staff who are properly qualified and licensed as commercial pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, etc. This company makes a valuable contribution to Zambia’s economy in the air transport service that it provides, through employment and training provided to nationals, through payments made to local suppliers, and of course in the taxes that it pays. There are other commercial air operators in Zambia, all operating on the same basis and making the same valuable contributions.
The above sounds fine but there is a serious problem being faced by all of the commercial air operators in Zambia. This is unfair competition from a tax-subsidised operator, the Zambia Flying Doctor Service. Since the taxpayers include the commercial air operators, in effect their own taxes are being used against them! The Flying Doctor Service does regular charter flights for businesses, tour operators, etc, in direct competition with legitimate commercial air operators. It can and does charge rates that undercut legitimate commercial air operators because its aircraft and operations are subsidised. For instance, it presumably has in its budget a provision for flights to maintain pilot currency. By using a charter flight for tourists or corporate executives for this purpose its flight costs have already been covered by the taxpayers so that any fee that it receives, which is deliberately set at less than the economic rate that non-subsidised commercial air operators have to charge, is sheer profit, unfairly gained at the expense of the country’s legitimate commercial air operators!
There is definitely an adequate provision of commercial air operators based in different parts of Zambia, which has sufficient spare capacity to absorb the traffic that is currently being unfairly pilfered from them by this tax-subsidised operation. My own employer and other commercial air operators have had to do medevac flights when there was no government funded FDS medevac aircraft available. (Why - perhaps busy carrying paying tourists or corporate executives instead of being available for the proper purpose?) The commercial air operators are quite capable of doing whatever medevac flights are required. Therefore there is no practical reason for the existence of a tax-subsidised operation that is unfairly competing in Zambia’s air transport market.
A number of commercial air operators and pilots in Zambia are seriously concerned with the unfair competition they are facing and the detrimental economic impact it is having. In discussions someone mentioned that they thought there might be some sort of ICAO or IATA rule prohibiting the use of subsidised aircraft, particularly those owned by or supported by governments, in unfair competition with legitimate commercial air operations. Is this so? If so, please let me know where I can find such a rule.
In addition, we will appreciate any other help or advice anyone is able to provide that will help us to eliminate this unfair competition and obtain a level playing field in Zambia’s air transport industry, to the long term benefit of the country’s economy and its people.