Processes of getting AOC faulted
| . Chairman of Mish Aviation Limited,Capt.Ibrahim Mshelia has faulted the process of procuring Air Operator’s Certificate(AOC) in Nigeria and calls for the urgent amendment of the Act as well as the policy. Speaking at the 25th League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents(LAAC) Conference,Mshelia 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 the civil aviation to also break down the certification process of our commercial operations”. “An Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC), is the approval granted by a nation’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), to qualified aircraft operator(s), so it can use the aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and system in place to ensure the safety of its employees and the general public. The certificate will list the aircraft types and registrations to be used (Operations Specifications, Ops Specs), for what purpose and in what area – specific airports or geographic region- the operation is to hold”. “As we all know, Aviation standards, management, policy and regulations in the global aviation sector is over sighted and supervised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).” ” I believe therefore that the motive of this seminar will be to review, dissect and fine tune some of our existing practices, considered to either be retrogressive, archaic or not in conformity with the global rule of practice.” “I will like to quickly look at what other nations like the United States of America (USA), decided to initiate in 1962 to improve their Aviation Industry to their national benefit and today’s superiority.” “ General Aviation is a familiar phrase which permits several ways of doing business in aviation. It allows multifaceted approach and not just a one-way approach. Here, I want to particularly refer to the relevant ICAO provisions on the procedures for the issuance of Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) and the grey areas, which I am of the opinion, should be corrected for the benefit of operators and the growth of our Aviation sector. The current system and its rigidity have really stagnated the growth of the sector.” “ The word AOC has been so over-valued like a village masquerade that appears once in five years. This is not supposed to be so. Operations specifications, in this regard, is the masquerade and not the certificate. I believe the speakers here today, and even the DG, NCAA will agree with me in their subsequent comments.” “ 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 ICAO, are not spelt out.” He said that international Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standard, small, large and medium operations, including; Air Taxi, Air Charter, Cargo Only, nonscheduled and Scheduled operations etc, are recognised. According to him, 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 fair or favour”. He explained that 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. In doing this,he said, 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,according to him, 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.” On the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the chairman of Mish Aviation noted that it has its defined roles: which include provision of security and screening, offices and counters for airlines at the airports, the runways and tarmac to land and park aircraft, the conveyance of the passengers to and from tarmac etc. “ We also have to start thinking of arriving at a fair levy for these services. The huge burden of cost of operations weigh down too heavily on airlines.” “ We should also start thinking of a very fair operational ground that will allow airlines to register to handle itself to taste.” He frowns at idea of being forced to patronise the handling companies, which services, sometimes do not measure up to the niche or standard of airlines has caused many airlines to lose their passengers. ‘” I hereby suggest that airlines that can bring buses that will measure up with the standard of the CAA should be allowed to do so, as well as provide other handling jobs that they can provide to standard”. “ If FAAN has the building which they collect charges on, collect passengers service charges and part of ticket sales, the airlines also pay taxes, I think it will foster growth, if landing and parking charges for domestic airlines are made free, as a way of cushioning the biting effects of the economy on aviation business.” He told participants that it is not strange to do this as the model exists elsewhere. We are quick and good to look at enviable standards around us or elsewhere. We have to match our thoughts with actions if we truly want to evolve the sector. “ We have been roundly accused as a nation that tends to shy away from the cancer eating it and end up blaming God for our inaction.” He noted with admiration that our aviation industry now thrives on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) as recommended by Government.” But there is now a glaring error of judgement which needs urgent revisiting”. “We now know that a huge number, more than the relevant, are being funded from proceeds of surcharges and taxes from the airlines. Some say more than 70 percent of the aviation agencies’ workforce are irrelevant to the operations of the airlines. The argument is that, airlines will fare better with less of the surcharges which are just to take care of recurrent and staff bills they do not need. Government should reverse or review the situation urgently.” While not campaigning for sack or retrenchment, he said it is also ipso facto justified that only the technical staff of these agencies that are providing direct services for the airlines should be factored into revenue generated from the airlines saying it should not be difficult to notice fairness in a country that prays like Nigeria; we hope to see fairness this time. “We should identify those whose services are linked to airlines and pay them reasonable salary, while Government should pick up the payment of salaries of the Administrative staff and suchlike, that are not providing technical service to airlines.” |
