Nigeria will never fill its aviation job gap unless urgent measures are taken to fix the workforce pipeline from training to employment, an aviation industry expert has warned.
The warning comes against the backdrop of Boeing’s projection that the global aviation industry will require 674,000 new pilots over the next 20 years, alongside hundreds of thousands of technicians and cabin crew, creating a major opportunity for countries capable of producing skilled aviation professionals.
Dr. Alexander Nwuba, President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Nigeria (AOPAN), said Nigeria, with a population of more than 200 million people, should be well positioned to supply part of the growing global demand, but its aviation workforce pipeline is failing at both ends.
Nwuba said those seeking aviation training are increasingly priced out of the profession, while those who have already obtained the necessary qualifications are unable to secure the opportunities required to begin their careers.
The Second Vice President of the Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), revealed that training at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) and private academies can cost upwards of ₦20 million, making aviation an increasingly elite profession accessible mainly to families with substantial financial resources.
He said the situation is particularly problematic because Nigeria lacks the accessible general aviation pathways that enable aspiring aviation professionals in countries such as the United States to build experience progressively.
According to Nwuba, flying clubs, small airfields, affordable time-building and instructor routes provide multiple entry points into aviation in the United States, allowing aspiring pilots to accumulate experience without having to bear the entire cost of an expensive professional training pipeline at the outset.
He said the United States still faces an aviation manpower shortage despite having relatively accessible general aviation pathways, arguing that Nigeria’s more expensive and limited system makes it even more difficult to close its own gap.
Nwuba explained that the problem is not limited to people who cannot afford training, as many Nigerians who have already paid for their training and obtained their licences are also unable to find opportunities to use their qualifications.
He disclosed that he has worked with several groups through AOPAN and ASRTI to help place young Nigerians who have completed their training into observer seats as an entry point into the industry.
According to him, some airlines have rejected such applicants despite the fact that the opportunities would allow them to begin accumulating the experience needed to progress in their careers.
He said the affected young Nigerians are not asking for unusual employment arrangements but for opportunities to gain the hours that can turn their licences into careers.
Nwuba stated that the situation is counterproductive because airlines that are likely to face greater manpower shortages in the coming years are simultaneously turning away some of the people who have already completed the training required to enter the industry.
He advocated the revival of flying schools and the introduction of structured, affordable time-building programmes that allow aviation professionals to accumulate experience through staged pathways rather than relying on a single expensive training process.
He also called for greater access to entry-level observer seats, cabin crew and dispatch opportunities for trained personnel who have completed their initial qualifications but lack the practical experience required for full employment.
Nwuba proposed that a special training wage should be established for young aviation professionals who need to build experience, stressing that the system must be regulator-set, protected, capped and supervised to prevent airlines from exploiting it as a means of obtaining cheap labour.
He said allowing young professionals to work for free simply to accumulate hours would be unconscionable, arguing that a properly regulated training wage would enable them to build experience without suffering further financial setbacks.
The AOPAN President said the proposed measures should not be viewed as subsidies to airlines but as investments in the aviation workforce, noting that the economic returns from developing aviation professionals extend beyond airline payrolls.
According to him, a pilot’s salary at the lowest entry level can potentially enable the professional to recover the cost of training within two years, while aircraft engineers can also recover their training investment over a slightly longer period.
He added that the same principle applies to cabin crew and dispatchers, whose training costs are lower and whose earnings can provide a relatively faster return on the investment in their professional development.
Nwuba said the tragedy is that the people who could generate those economic returns are often unable to access the training in the first place, while those who manage to obtain the necessary qualifications are left with licences they cannot effectively use.
He said a properly developed training and employment pipeline would produce working aviation professionals capable of earning incomes, supporting families and contributing to the wider economy instead of leaving qualified graduates idle.
He stressed that the issue should therefore be treated as an investment in human capital rather than simply an airline staffing problem, adding that the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) must be as involved in fixing the pipeline as the regulator.
Nwuba said airlines stand to benefit directly when the manpower pipeline works and therefore cannot continue to reject the very people the system is designed to train.
He said Nigeria may not completely eliminate the aviation workforce gap in the face of the scale of global demand, but the country can minimise it if it begins to address the failures at both ends of its aviation training and employment pipeline.
“We will not close this gap. Boeing’s numbers alone make that clear. But we can minimise it, and right now we are not even doing that,” Nwuba concluded.
