Pilot Wages in Nigeria

[NaijaNinja]

Hello Ppruners,

I am looking to work in Nigeria once i conclude my JAA training later this year and should have in the region of 300 hours (a third of which is multi & sim time).


I am aware of the numerous aircraft types available in the Nigerian Aviation industry and i would be grateful if those who have an experience/knowledge of the industry in Nigeria can offer any valuable piece of information on the typical renumeration for different positons they are aware of OR might have held in the past.
Also, could you please share your views on the level of importance placed on the MCC qualification by Nigerian Airlines.I look forward to tapping into the brains of the thousands of experienced flyers out there on this forum. Thanks in advance for your guidance!

NaijaNinja

[ZAZOO]

Nice to know your doin the MCC thing, am sure we are going to start pickin up on that soon here. Know a whole bunch of us here who need to get fixed up on an MCC class :* . and stop thinking the cockpit is there throne.

Pay is fine mate. Dont worry too much about pay now, just come and fly.

[LongJohnThomas]

Naijaninja,
PM me.

[Flying Touareg]

with your MCC and being a Ninja i am sure you will show sone tingods a lesson back home:D

As zazoo rightly said just come back and fly. The pay is ok.

However, you should be prepared for License conversion and find a little job to do for at least two months.

[18left]

if you add a 737-300 to that jaa of yours,if you can afford it.............you have almost automatic employment in VIRGIN NIGERIA,and i think something equally close in ARIK and AERO.
You have to convert your licence,at the snail paced NCAA,and that can be quite frustrating,as they will insist on a fax from the issuing authority to verify ,and the fax machine at NCAA will
1.probably be out of paper
or
2.a power cut will not allow it to function
or
3.they may not have paid thier phone bills so it may be dead
but they will insist on this fax
so i suggest you get your issuing authority to send a courier to them in advance of your arrival to help you going
am not trying to kill your spirit but it takes a while to do the conversion

THE PAY IS COOL

[NIJASEA]

Congrats in advance as said so far all is well in nigeria pay wise and its a good place to log hours quickly. Changing your licence is not going to be hectic as coming with a JAA licence allows you to escape all the exams except Air Law which should not be too bad. The NCAA is now greatly improved from when i did my conversion and it should not take you more than 3 weeks to convert. Try to get a type if you can if not GOOD LUCK coz it might take a year to get a job as airlines in nigeria employ firstly on WHO U KNOW( course you must be qualified) then what you know.
ONCE AGAIN ALL THE BEST.
AND WELCOME :ok:

[5N-OSA]

Thanx For the Advice Cos I Am Still In School (Minna)And looking foward to Flying in Nigeria in acouple of years by God's Grace. But For My the Pay is Second The love of it Comes First.ALWAYS:rolleyes:

[NaijaNinja]

There's a limit to how much the 'love' thing goes and it won't take you long to FIND out. We are all attracted to this profession for the thrills it brings amongst other reasons but trust me, you are deceiving yourself if you assert that renumeration isn't important.

I know a few captains who will testify to the love thing being a temporary thing. Temporary in the sense that it will ultimately take second place once the novelty wears out. Without opening a can of worms, the novelty does wear out after a while especially in the Nigerian scene!

As someone outside of the Nigerian system, i raised this thread simply to get a wide range of views on what the Nigerian scene has to offer, not to project the view that money drives my willingness to fly in Nigeria because if it did; i am certainly barking up the wrong tree!

[NaijaNinja]

Common people, am sure there are more guys and/or ladies out there with an opinion on this thread, please share it with us all!

Just trying to reactivate this thread!

[NIJASEA]

I really find it insulting you started a thread to get info under false pretences about the nigerian situation JUST ASK OPENLY thats what this site is about, I have flown in nigeria all my career and can say I have not yet met an EXPAT pilot who hates the situation there, I've met racist pilots and fantastic pilots all stay at least 10years unless fired for unsafe attitudes. About MCC most captains in nigeria now respect their F/O and show great regard towards the cabin/ground staff not because they are forced to but they know what it takes to operate safely.
To sum up there are a few(VERY FEW) TIN GODS left in nigeria and I advise anyone looking for a safe(YES I DID SAY SAFE) enviroment to fly in and live in to come home and get a jod coz pay is now equal to and in some cases more than european levels.
I DO NOT KNOW ANY EXPATS IN ALL MY YEARS WHO GOT ATTACKED FOLLOWING BASIC SECURITY CONCIOUS RULES WHICH APPLY TO MOST 1st WORLD COUNTRIES AND AROUND AFRICA.

[NaijaNinja]

Wo, Wo, Wo, Wo, slow down Nijasea, enough of your unwarranted attack which seems to be aimed at me. I am actually assuming its not aimed at me because i simply can't find any justification for your outburst considering you've positively contributed to this thread in the past.

PS: if you can't remember contributing or can't remember what questions i raised to start this thread, all you need do is scroll DOWN▼!

Then, i challenge you to let me know what your beef is all about! Peace man!

[mellowflyer]

I have been flying in Mexico for the last year and a half CRJ 200's and before that I flew DC-9's for 12 years. Plus all kinds of air Taxi, Corporate, Government , Instructing jobs I could find.
Would you advise me to try to get a job with ARIK?

Thanks!

I f I did get a a job there, how much money woud I be making?

[MD12]

There's (or used to be) a Mexican Capt, Jose, flying the CRJ for Arik. He went there through Avionco, so maybe you can get in touch with him through them.

[mellowflyer]

Thanks!

We had lunch the other day and it was very insightful.

He is very happy with his assignments.

Best regards

[chuks]

because I was in a mini-bus that got shot up pretty comprehensively, just going to work out at Murtala Muhammed Airport.

Broad daylight, middle of Isolo there by Chicken Tetrazzini, 0615, some dirtbags in a stolen "Danfo" (VW bus in Lagos taxi colours) blocked us in the usual go-slow, climbed out and just started shooting. So what were we doing wrong there?

The other two pilots were both wounded and I got off with just a fright. There were 13 holes in the bus, including one in the headrest next to mine and another in my seat cushion about the level of my shoulder blades. Oh, and a third one that would have got me in the ankles if I hadn't had my feet up on the wheelwell.

Good thing, too, that poster said "ex-pats." What, dead local pilots don't count?

One Captain from Mobil, shot dead by robbers on the steps of his Ikeja residence just before Christmas one year... that sort of put the mockers on Chrimbo, I can tell you!

Another Captain with Imani, I think it was, shot dead on the Agege Motor Road one afternoon one afternoon.

Jerry Agbeyagbe... ended up dead, no one really knows how. Of course that time, yes, he was out at Oh-dark-thirty, an arguably silly thing to do.

Not to come across as all gloomy and pessimistic but my personal impression of Lagos in particular and Nigeria in general was that you didn't have to be doing anything particularly stupid or dangerous to become a victim of an armed robbery or even just some bullet addressed, "To Whom It May Concern..." Much worse than that one with your name on it!

[ZAZOO]

Thanks for reminding us of ur famous episode again Chuks!

By the way remind us of the year again please.

[anjouan]

I guess that would also be the time that Bristow had at least 6 helicopters and their crews kidnapped and held hostage, plus another pilot kidnapped from outside the Shell camp in Warri. Aero only had 3 machines which were hijacked for very short times and no crews held in the bush like Bristow did. Some of those guys are still around, but some never really recovered from the experience. Now, down in Port Harcourt everyone leaves their so-called secure compounds only to go to work, with armed security escorts. I've been attacked several times in Nigeria, but been lucky to avoid serious injury :(. The fun has gone out of the place.

[outofhereoyibo]

When was the shooting? CRAP! Glad you made it out.

[outofhereoyibo]

Here is some pay info on Arik. Hope it helps. Good Luck!

Arik Air commenced operations with their inaugural flight on the 30
th
October
2006 using one of their three newly delivered CRJ900 aircraft. Since
October 2006 the airline has already increased their fleet size by introducing
2 x B737-300, 2 x B737-700, CRJ900 and Hawker800 aircraft. At present
their current fleet provides scheduled domestic passenger services as well
as ad hoc executive services. In August 2007 Arik Air will commence log
haul international services using two wet leased B747-400 aircraft. Further to
this the airline expects delivery of their first 777 aircraft in 2010 which will
facilitate the airlines international expansion.
In consideration of the airlines fast expanding operations they are currently
seeking applications from qualified flight crew personnel for permanent
positions with an operating base in Nigeria. Knowing that successful
candidates will originate from various locations worldwide the airline has
implemented a well structured schedule allowing crew members return home
for four consecutive weeks at a time after eight weeks of service.
Opportunities with Arik Air will offer successful candidates very positive and
attractive long term career prospects with the possibility of command
upgrades and even further possibilities to move on to larger aircraft
types as the airline continues to grow.
CRJ200/900 Instructor
CRJ200/900
Line Captains
CRJ200/900
First Officers
Client airline will pay tax free salaries on a monthly basis at the following
rates
USD8, 500 per month
USD7, 500 per month
USD 3, 000- USD 5,000 per month (dependant on candidate experience)
Per Diem
Crewmembers will be paid a per diem of NGN 10,000 (Approx USD80) per
day at layovers and outstations.
Operating Base
Crewmembers shall be based in Lagos, Nigeria.
Accommodation
Crewmembers will be provided by the client airline with fully furnished
apartments in a newly developed secure complex. Onsite facilities include NOT BUILT! YOU WILL STAY AT A GUEST HOUSE. WHICH HAS SEEN BETTER DAYS. BRING TONS OF MOSQUITO REP

[chuks]

Zazoo, the date was easy to remember, 10 September, 2001. I guess that is why it never made it into the world news, eh?

If your point is that it happened more than six years ago, well, mine is that there is no particular reason it should not happen again in more-or-less the same way. Well, maybe the dirtbags learn to shoot better, so that they could kill us all with an AK-47 at near point-blank range; that much could be different! Too, since then the situation has deteriorated further in Nigeria so that levels of crime are even higher than six years ago. Or have I got that wrong?

What passes for police in Nigeria, huh! They never bothered to investigate the incident seriously so that the perpetrators were never caught. A couple of guys came out, looked at the holes in the bus and went away. That was all.

The Shell doctor gave us some little white pills to help us sleep; so much for being a sub-contractor, I guess. There were some fine words about their deep concern for us but nothing like practical help to keep it from happening again.

The Company continued to run the same vehicle (holes patched up) past the same point, albeit slightly later in the day, 0630, arguing that, well, "It only happened once." I could hardly wait for "twice" to see what explanation that would bring! Probably, yes, that we had done something wrong.

There are opportunities in Nigeria, sure. Good luck to anyone else who wants to try his luck; I had some good times there and I still have a warm spot for the people.

On the other hand, a normal European might have no idea of the levels of danger there to be found.

Don't waste your time and mine reading war stories but go to the US Department of State website for travel advisories, for example.

Definitely check with a doctor who is experienced in tropical diseases before you go.

Have a think about the fact that the standard of driving in Nigeria is insanely dangerous, too. The ride to the airport can be the worst part of your day, no fooling.

If anyone wants to take at face value a statement that living in today's Nigeria is "safe" well, I have $30 million in a blocked bank account that I am willing to share with anyone who wants to give me their account details, okay? (That's just a bit of sarcasm: there is no $30 million, just as there isn't much safety in Lagos. In other words, check it out very, very carefully before you decide to go work there.)

[alghaita ganga]

Naija, you are deserving of every kobo you are paid to fly in Nigeria. It's just as dangerous as New York!
Not to expatriate, but here is reality of life in the oil city of Port Harcourt:
New York times, 9 Nov 2007 (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/world/africa/09nigeria.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2)
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria — Rosemary Douglas has no connection to the oil business that pumps more than two million barrels of crude a day from beneath the swampy Niger Delta. But the violence surrounding it pierced her home in September anyway, when a bullet shattered her upper left arm as she napped with her 2-year-old daughter.

Gun battles between gangs have erupted in Port Harcourt.
“I don’t know why this happened to me,” she said, grimacing in pain as she gave a bewildered account of the gunplay that has engulfed her neighborhood and much of this oil-drenched city. “I mind my own business.”
The violence that has rocked the Niger Delta in recent years has been aimed largely at foreign oil companies, their expatriate workers and the police officers and soldiers whose job it is to protect them. Hundreds of kidnappings, pipeline bombings and attacks on flow stations and army barracks have occurred in the past two years alone.
But these days the guns have turned inward, and open battles have erupted with terrifying frequency on the pothole-riddled streets of this ramshackle city. The origins of the violence are as murky and convoluted as the mangrove swamps that snake across the delta, one of the poorest places on earth. But they lie principally in the rivalry among gangs, known locally as cults, that have ties to political leaders who used them as private militias during state and federal elections in April, according to human rights advocates, former gang members and aid workers in the region.
“What is happening now cannot be separated from politics,” said Anyakwee Nsirimovu of the Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Port Harcourt. “The cults are part and parcel of our politics. They have become part of the system, and we are paying in blood for it.”
The cults go by names that veer from the chilling to the improbable — like the Black Axe, the Klansmen, the Icelanders, the Outlaws and the Niger Delta Vigilante. Separate but not entirely distinct from the militant groups that have attacked the oil industry in the past, they represent a new, worrisome phase in a region that has been convulsed by conflict since oil was discovered here in 1956.
Since democracy returned to Nigeria in 1999, politicians across the country have used cults to intimidate opponents and rig votes. A Human Rights Watch report published in October concluded that the political system was so corroded by corruption and violence that, in some places, it resembled more a criminal enterprise than a system of government. The April elections were so brazenly rigged in some areas and so badly marred by violence that international observers said the results were not credible.
Nowhere is political violence more severe than here in the Niger Delta, where control over state government means access to billions of dollars in oil revenues and control of enough patronage for an army.
According to former gang members and human rights workers, the governing People’s Democratic Party and some opposition parties employed cult members in the delta during the election, as they had in the two previous ones, which led to landslide victories for the governing party.
One powerful gang leader, Soboma George, was given the lion’s share of patronage, they contend. Mr. George displayed his prowess in the months before the election by having his foot soldiers break him out of a city jail in a brazen assault. He then demonstrated his impunity by driving through the streets of Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, in flashy cars, seemingly fearless of arrest.
The other gangs resented Mr. George’s growing influence and control over lucrative security contracts, and a war between them has turned increasingly bloody. Caught in the middle have been all kinds of civilians; no one is off limits to the violence.
The elderly mother of the newly elected state governor was kidnapped and held for ransom in the spring. Toddlers related to senior government officials and business leaders have been seized to extract ransom payments or settle political disputes.
The violence reached such a pitch that at Teme Hospital here, surgeons from the aid group Doctors Without Borders struggled to keep up with a flood of 71 gunshot victims in just two weeks in August, and more than a month later they were still treating many people recovering from shattered bones and flesh wounds from the fighting.
Ibinabo Bob-Manuel, a 25-year-old college student, said she was at home with her aunt and 6-year-old sister, Lolo, on Aug. 16 when shooting broke out between soldiers and a gang that had occupied the area.
Four bullets pierced the fleshy part of her thigh, and one remained lodged inside. She lost so much blood that she passed out. The top half of a toe was blown off. Her sister was shot through her hands as she pressed her palms in prayer in the hail of bullets, Ms. Bob-Manuel said.
“We were bleeding and crying,” she said. “My auntie shouted, ‘You killed my family!’ I thought I would die.”
The government says it is cracking down on gangs, and it has sent an elite army unit into Port Harcourt and the surrounding areas to impose law and halt the violence. The gunplay in the city streets has since died down, but it is a tense, uneasy calm.
Many residents worry that rivalries may soon heat up again. On Oct. 25 a judicial panel removed the new governor of Rivers State, Celestine Omehia, ruling that he had not been an eligible candidate because he did not win his party’s primary. The winner of the primary, Rotimi Amaechi, was sworn in as governor, and many worry that violent clashes will ensue between their supporters.
The bloodshed has reached beyond the cities, deep into the creekside communities of the delta. In Ogbogoro the fights between rival gangs were so intense in August that the council of traditional rulers felt compelled to act. Two cults, the Debam and the Dewell, were fighting over political turf, oil and contracts for security work with oil services companies, according to local officials.
“No one could sleep in the town,” said Chief Clement Chuku, one of the traditional rulers of Ogbogoro. “Bullets were flying all night.”
The chiefs met to announce an ultimatum: all cult members had to leave or risk being arrested by vigilante youths from the community. The vigilantes rounded up a few members as examples, Mr. Chuku said, and were planning to turn them over to the military.
But just as a community meeting got under way in the town hall in early September, dozens of young men on motorbikes, carrying machine guns and grenade launchers, overran the meeting. Two traditional rulers were shot dead and their bodies were dumped on a weedy riverbank.
George Ogan, a retired doctor and church leader who has been trying to stem gang violence farther down the delta in his hometown, Okrika, where some of the most fearsome cults are based, said that such violence was completely bound up with politics.
“Our politicians cannot stand on their own, so they find those who will stand with guns for them,” Dr. Ogan said.

[ZAZOO]

So tell me then, how many pilots , cabin crew , engineers , etc in the industry have been medivac out of Nigeria in the last 6yrs , actually lets take the last 12yrs due to gunshot or other relative injuries from attacks in Nigeria?

Thats including the foreign airlines coming in to lagos on their scheduled flights and having their all regular get together at the bars!!!

chuks we get ur point and I would not wish what happened to u to anyone else here in Nigeria both local and expat, but dont u think u ar going too far with this ur encounter!!!

[chuks]

actually, Zazoo. What happened to us (not me, particularly) could happen to anyone. In fact, it often does but it happens to local people no one in particular cares about. Here it happened to a group of ex-pats and their local driver and one of them, me, is a big-mouth.

Our local hangar staff would routinely take off their wristwatches to run the "area boys" gauntlet up by Ikeja Roundabout every day on their way home from work. It was just a fact of life that anything showing would be taken. In addition to the bus that was shot up we lost two more to robbers plus a half-truck destroyed in a road accident that cost the life of a pilot, his local girlfriend and his driver. None of this was noteworthy, except to the family and friends of the dead.

That shooting incident is history, of course, but one should learn from history. There was a previous, probably well-meant, post here stating positively that Nigeria is a safe environment, with which I beg to differ, with the reason given being my little war story there.

I know of one guy who died of malaria in Kansas, thinking he had left Abuja with a hangover, if that helps your census at all. I think that was in about 2003.

I like your country, up to a point. Well, after so many years there it is in my blood. The thing is, you probably have a fresh crop of "oyingbos" ready to come out and try their luck who might take this assessment of "safe" at face value. Well, you know as well as I do that between the diseases and the driving, let alone the crime, there is a much, much higher level of risk in Nigeria compared to western Europe or the USA. "Normal people" just cannot understand that, I think.

I once blotted my copybook by just giving one of my American siblings a straight description of Lagos circa 1982. When I got through telling about the dead bodies left lying about she told me that she hadn't realised that I "hated black people." When I asked her why she thought that she said that what I was saying just "couldn't be." Think again, darling!

I think some of the young guys, hungry for jet time and decent pay, read this forum, deduct about 50% for exaggeration, and figure that Lagos must be the place to be. As I wrote, forget the war stories, mine included, and just check out the "Advice for Travellers" sections on the US, British, German, whatever, government websites. Those are diplomatic sources with a remit to be as positive as possible about Nigeria.

Personally, I like Lagos and I certainly like Nigerians. (You guys can keep your humanity up living in incredibly tough conditions; that counts for a lot compared to your average white weenie, having a hissy fit every time NEPA cuts or Sunday forgets to buy a new tin of Kiwi Black.) I almost ended up back there recently, in fact. Don't take what I write here as a personal attack on your country; it is just that it is bl**dy dangerous there! That is fact, not opinion.

[Oyindo]

Hi CHUKS,
I totally agree with you, just be in the wrong place at the right time, it is a dangerous place. Let's pray it does not happen to anyone of us or to someone close to us. Guys stay safe.

[GAFA Pilot]

Just curious... but lets say that one applies to VK / W3 / AJ etc... what's likely to the scoop on the following (in no particular order) :

Likely Salary
Tax
Accommodation
Cost of living
Driving / Vehicles
Work schedules
Lifestyle
Relocation cost
Being paid offshore
and anything else you think might be worth knowing? JAA ATPL, B737-Classic & NG, B757/767, 5500 hours, Training Captain with lots of experience operating / living in Africa (but none of living / working in Nigeria).