…Says It Trained 27 Pilots In 2017
Dana Air, one of the leading airlines in the country has decorated five pilots; made up two captains and three First Officers.
The pilots that were decorated at a very brief ceremony at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2) includes: Kalu Sylvester, Ibrahim Kzeem as Captains and Lawal Wahab, Afolabi Damilola and Ilesanmi Ayotunde as Flight Officers.
Speaking shortly after decorating the pilots, the Director of Flight Operations, Segun Omole, stated that he sees the qualified and decorated pilots as new graduands from the university.
He stated that the tenet of pilots while on duty is to fly legally, adding that if it is not legal,it cannot be fly and if it not legal ,it is not safe.
The Director of Flight Operation added that since it is the only domestic airline operating MD83 and as a result , Dana Air has taken it upon itself to train Nigerian pilots on MD83.
He said that Dana Air can boast of having 80 per cent of the pilots trained by the airline, adding that some pilots are currently undergoing training.
Omole commended the management for the efforts and fiancé committed to training these pilots and also congratulated the newly decorated pilots for their success, urging them to continue to maintain safety that the airline is known for.
He revealed that in 2017, the airline trained close to 27 Nigerian pilots, urging them to continue to bring in new graduands into the flying for training.
On where the pilots currently been trained would get aircraft to fly, the Accountable Manager, Dana Air, Mr Obi Mbanuzor said, “You know it takes four sets of crew to operate an aircraft and we have four for now meaning we need 16 crew to fly the aircraft plus we have one aircraft that has just undergone a major check and we still have two pilots there to test fly the aircraft. And we are still planning on acquiring aircraft in the no distant future and if we start training when those aircraft come in then we are already late. Currently we have 16 pilots and 17 co-pilots.”
The Director of Flight Operations argued that if these pilots are brought in when they are young, there will be enthusiasm to fly.
“We are not saying we do not hire captains, we do but when we train them they imbibe our culture from scratch while hired captains come from a different environment and bring a culture clash. We are trying to endure all our captains come in as First Officers with the opportunity to grow as captains.”
On why there are no female among, the pilot decorated, Omole said that Dana is very open to employing female pilots, adding that one female pilot is currently undergoing training.
Speaking further, he pointed that for the avoidance of doubt; female pilots are less problematic compared to her male counterpart
According to him,”Female pilots are not very many in the market but when they come to us we will employ them.
On where Dana trains its pilots, he stated that te airline train it pilots either at the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) or Aviation College Ilorin.
On whether there is bonding as to how many years pilots in the airline can work before he would be allowed to go after been trained by the airline, the Director of Flight Operations, stated that there was no bonding system initially but that the airline discovered that the foreign pilots where leaving without coming back.
He added that as a result of that experience the airline decided to say that, “if we must train you, you must pay a fraction of the money used in training you between certain numbers of years.
Speaking on behalf of the pilots after decoration, Capt. Kalu Sylvester assured that the pilots would do their best to be good ambassadors of the airline adding that Dana is the best airline to work with as its procedures and manuals are on point.
He commended the management for training them and also congratulates his colleague for a job well done.
