Operators canvass overhaul of licensing certification

Airline operators have canvassed the overhaul of the procedures adopted by the civil aviation regulator in the issuance of the all-important Air Operators Certificate (AOC), a mandatory requirement before airlines could embark on commercial scheduled flights.

The carriers have expressed concerns over the four-stage laborious and revenue depleting procedures adopted by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in considering carriers that qualify to be issued the licence.

Rather than sticking to the window of two-year tenure for the AOC, airlines are pushing for a no expiry regime in which validity should only be threatened through suspension or revocation.

Besides, operators say operations specifications should only retain bi-yearly expiry.

Apart from the huge costs spent by the airlines, they have also expressed reservations on the length of the time and other materials expended in preparing for the certification process by prospective and holders.

In an interview, Chairman, West Link Airlines, Captain Ibrahim Mshelia said the NCAA should save carriers the expenses borne to acquire the all-important certificate by ensuring that the two-year expiry date for holders is scrapped.

Mshelia canvassed a permanent tenure for AOC holding except revoked by the NCAA on the grounds of air safety and other critical considerations.

The airline pilot and Chief Executive Officer of Mish Aviation , a Ghana -based aviation training institute lamented that the word AOC has been so over-valued like a masquerade that appears sparingly in public.

The pilot and trainer canvassed change in the status quo where there is a blanket issuance procedure of AOC for big, small, or large operations.

He said : “With the lopsidedness in the procurement procedures and the operational limits of AOC holders in Nigeria, there is an urgent need to amend our act and policy in this area, to empower civil aviation to also break down the certification process of our commercial operations.

“Today, we have an unhealthy situation where there is a blanket issuance procedure of AOC for big, small, or large operations. Under this system, the roles of other segments of operators that are also entitled, by law, to operate commercial operations, unfettered as guaranteed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), are not spelt out. By ICAO standard, small, large and medium operations, including; Air Taxi, Air Charter, Cargo Only, non -scheduled and Scheduled operations are recognised.

“It is interesting because ICAO does not discriminate because of the size of a nation. The Organisation allows several models of the size of the CAA of a country; small, medium or large CAA. ICAO also expects performance variance with the various sizes and accepts them into the comity of nations on the council. In oversighting also, ICAO has developed Checklist; small CAA, Medium CAA or large CAA.

” In certifying our operators however, one checklist is used for all. In order to enforce the norms and do all that is required to make our aviation sector conform with global norms, it is also expedient to ensure that we have the right staff with requisite experience to follow policy to letter and enforce it without fear or favour. ICAO has a model recommended in DOC 8335. CAAs are encouraged to use that scale. Nigeria should and must close that gap. It is a serious safety concern, similar to an unsafe aircraft or untrained crew, taking to the Skies.

“And in doing this, a thorough overhaul of the inspectorate division of our civil aviation agency becomes a sine-qua-non. This has to be done quickly, to galvanise the Nigerian aviation industry achievements. The staff of the agencies have done well so far but the new and desired NCAA will require a huge change of attitude as well.

” The AOC is hereby proposed to have no expiry date unless suspended or revoked while the ops specs only should have a biannual expiry, to shed unnecessary expenses to the operators. I will also suggest that only qualified technical staff in the agencies should be hired and paid salaries commensurate with their counterparts abroad. I am of the opinion that the sector can afford that if we employ only relevant personnel”, he said.

Also speaking in an interview, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), TAL Helicopters, Engr. Femi Adeniji, said in other countries including the United States, AOCs are acquired for life unless such an airline has committed infractions leading to the grounding of its operations for years.

He argued that the same could be replicated in Nigeria, and called on the NCAA to amend its regulations and put them in tandem with developments around the world.

According to him, the one-shoe-fits -all approach in the regulation needed to be expunged for true development to set in.