Flight attendant reports NCAA to Irish CAA over unemployment 

A seemingly frustrated Nigerian cabin crew graduate has taken his grievances beyond national borders by reporting the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Captain Chris Najomo, to the Irish Civil Aviation Authority.

This was made known in a post on X by the spokesperson of the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, on Saturday.

Although the NCAA publicist didn’t mention the Cabin Crew’s name, he confirmed that the Nigeria-trained crew in his e-mail to the Irish CAA copied him (Achimugu) too.

Achimugu said the complainant reported Najomo for failing to provide automatic employment for him and other licensed cabin crew graduates in Nigeria.

Achimugu added that the crew expressed deep frustration, using inflammatory language to condemn the NCAA and its leadership while painting a bleak picture of Nigeria’s aviation landscape.

Meanwhile, the Irish CAA is a counterpart of the NCAA; both organisations are equally responsible for their countries’ aviation industries as regulators.

Civil aviation authorities are responsible for regulating the aviation industry and are not in any form responsible for employment, with cabin crew, among other officials, employed solely by airline operators.

Achimugu stated in his post, “This guy wrote the Irish Civil Aviation Authority and copied me. He is reporting the DG of NCAA, Captain Chris Najomo, to the Irish CAA for not getting automatic employment for him (author of the email) and other cabin crew graduates. His email paints Nigeria very badly, and he curses the DGCA.

“He left his name and phone number. I don’t know what he expects the Irish CAA to do, why he is indicting the DGCA, or why I have been copied.

“The email goes on to mention protests, using very strong words.”

This further highlights the capacity shortfall in the Nigerian aviation industry.

Nigeria is currently home to 13 domestic scheduled operators and approximately 23 international carriers, highlighting a capacity shortage in the country’s aviation industry.

Given the competitive nature of the aviation sector, experts note that it is simply unrealistic to expect immediate employment for all newly licensed personnel following a lack of capacity.

Last week, the National President of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, Abednego Galadima, lamented how the refusal of airlines to train pilots and engineers has continued to cause frustration for young professionals in the industry.

This lack of opportunity pushed many to exit the country for greener pastures.

Galadima said, “As the older, highly experienced pilots and engineers age out, the industry is failing to build a pipeline of local talent to replace them. This has led to massive skill gaps and threatens the sustainability of Nigeria’s aviation sector.”

Despite the capacity crisis, he also expressed concern over the importation of foreign professionals, particularly in the oil and gas aviation sub-sector, where some airlines prefer to employ expatriate pilots from Eastern Europe rather than train Nigerians.

He described this as a short-sighted cost-cutting measure that deepens the succession crisis in the profession.

Abednego stressed that the development has young pilots’ and engineers’ frustration over the refusal of most Nigerian airlines to train and type-rate them.

A type rating is a type of aircraft certification that is granted by aviation authorities to pilots who have completed training and testing on a specific type of aircraft.

The NAAPE president stressed that “During the Nigeria Airways era, you see that so much training was going on, and this helped young people. But currently, airlines would prefer to poach from airline A to B. They are just migrating and recycling them.”

Abednego said pilots and engineers, after paying heavily to train in school (those who can afford the fees), are again forced to pay over ₦30 million to get type-rated, a training that is supposed to be done by airlines.

The PUNCH