Nigeria no dey short of licensed commercial pilots, but di real problem na say many of dem no dey get airline job even years after dem finish flight school. Captain Zino Mario, wey be founder and CEO of Zino Aviation, talk am for exclusive interview with Nairametrics.
According to am, di biggest challenge for di country pilot workforce no be producing commercial pilots, na to convert qualified commercial pilots into airline pilots. E say Nigeria get growing pool of licensed commercial pilots, yet many of dem dey stay unemployed for years after dem graduate.
E explain say di reason no be say dem no get talent. Di wahala na disconnect between wetin flight training dey teach and how airlines dey recruit. Before, airlines dey recruit fresh Commercial Pilot Licence holders and dey sponsor dia aircraft type ratings — di training wey dey qualify pilot to fly particular aircraft like Boeing 737, Embraer E190 or ATR 72-600. But as competition for airline jobs increase, some candidates start to pay for dia own type ratings to better dia chance of getting hired. Over time, dat one change wetin di market dey expect.
For di interview, Captain Zino also talk di cost of becoming commercial pilot, di hurdles wey dey before aspiring pilots go enter airline work, recruitment trends, salary expectations, and di policy and industry reforms wey e believe go help di sector grow for long term.
Di cost side no be small matter. BusinessDay report for 2021 say person wey wan be commercial pilot fit spend $60,000 to $100,000 on flight training, spend 6 to 18 months for flight school, gather 200 to 250 flight hours, and pass plenty exams. Even when di licence finally land, e fit still struggle to get di airline job.
Dat same BusinessDay report yan say Zino Mario-Ghae co-found Zino Aviation to provide solutions to these challenges, wey e describe as “easily avoidable”. Dem describe am as experienced British-Nigerian commercial pilot wey get Airplane, Helicopter and UAV licences with several thousand flight hours. E hold EASA (European), FAA (American) and NCAA (Nigerian) licences, and e don conduct flight training across different parts of di world. E collect im Private Pilot Licence at 18 and Commercial Pilot Licence at 19, wey make am Nigeria youngest commercial pilot at di time.
