Airport proliferation causes air traffic controllers’ shortage

Proliferation of aerodromes across the country has been attributed to the dearth of air traffic controllers in the nation’s aviation industry.

Nigeria currently has over 25 airports and continuous building of airports by state governors would continue to overstretch the few air traffic controllers, as most of the facilities are handed to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), despite the low traffic they record.

Director of Administration, Dr. Saleh Ibrahim told woleshadare.net that the springing up of airports across the country despite their unviability has stretched the manpower strength of the controllers.

He explained that states keep on building aerodromes that demand that controllers must be assigned to the place whenever there is a flight, adding that most times, only one flight operates to the area every day.

Ekiti, Osun, Zamfara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Anambra, Abia, Bayelsa states are very desperate to build airports that would gulp over N300 billion.

Many consider this as waste of resources considering that Ogun State is less than 80 kilometers to Lagos, which is the hub of aviation in Nigeria; Anambra is less than 100 kilometers to Enugu Airport, which is the hub of aviation in the South East; Ekiti and Osun are very close to Akure Airport, which is rarely serviced by air; Nassarawa is very close to Abuja and less than 70 kilometers to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the proposed Abia Airport, which is less than 60 kilometers to the Owerri Airport.

Ibrahim added that most times, air traffic controllers are removed from the airports with less traffic to compliment busy airports with huge traffic such as those in Lagos and Abuja.

He disclosed that government was looking into solving the dearth of air traffic controllers, adding that many of them are undergoing both local and overseas training.

Although air traffic figure is very low in Nigeria compared to the United States where controllers guide 70,000 flights a day, while ensuring that 736 million passengers a year arrive at their destinations safely, air traffic controllers in Nigeria still complain of shortage of hands, poor remuneration and unhealthy work place conditions, leading to low morale and lack of concentration most times. Unfortunately, budgetary missteps and bureaucratic red tape have led to a shortage of controllers.

What has been a concern for many years has now reached a crisis level.The nation’s ATC system has the fewest Certified Professional Controllers –1,200 – in nearly three decades.

Controller staffing has fallen nearly 10 per cent since 2010, the NAMA missed its hiring goals for the last seven years, and there are currently more controllers eligible to retire today than are currently in the pipeline to replace them.

Experts said significant changes are needed immediately. An air traffic controller who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said even hiring the maximum number of controllers that could be trained in 2016 and 2017 could not make up the gap created by the freeze.

He added that new hires still require between two and four years of training to become fully certified, adding that only CPCs can do the training.

His words: “This training often takes these full-fledged controllers away from their primary job of guiding traffic.

“Facilities that are already at critically low staffing levels are facing dire situations as controllers are expected to do more with less.” There are other concerns as well.

In some understaffed facilities, controllers must work overtime to provide adequate coverage. Some facilities lack sufficient staffing even with overtime to meet basic needs.

The source further disclosed that controllers are sometimes asked to work additional days, stressing that extended workdays and workweeks have led to significant fatigue problems.

This, he said, has made fatigue one of the agency’s highest priority safety concerns.

President, Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), Victor Eyaru, told our correspondent that the nation’s economy needs a vibrant, modern and growing national airspace and that requires a strong and growing air traffic controller workforce.

He stated that it is incumbent upon NAMA to fix the process quickly and ensure that “our nation’s air traffic control towers and centers are fully staffed.”