The South African Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) stated on Wednesday that South Africa and most other developing countries have become a hunting ground for well-heeled employers in search of skilled aviation personnel.

The authority noted that the shortage of highly skilled aviation personnel is no longer a looming challenge but a stark reality, faced by many countries worldwide.

“The current global demand for experienced pilots, engineers, air traffic controllers and maintenance and aerodrome technicians, among others, requires an immediate intervention as it is usually a lengthy process to identify and train candidates for most of these trades,” said Sacaa CEO Captain Colin Jordaan.

Although the current economic downturn might offer some respite, Jordaan described as alarming the rate at which highly skilled personnel were being lured to jobs elsewhere.

“It will not be long before our aviation industry feels the same effects that befell the medical and engineering industry not so long ago.

“Besides, the number of young South Africans entering our aviation industry is being rapidly surpassed by local and global demand.”

But Jordaan stressed that, despite the challenges, the current national skills pool was adequate to guarantee acceptable levels of safety.

A total of 5 146 pilot's licences were issued by the Sacaa between March 1, 2007 and February 28, 2008.

“This represents a 13% increase in the number of licences issued compared with the same period the year before, but there has been a 5,5% decline over the same period 2008 to 2009.

“There was a sharp increase of 81% in the number of the student pilot’s licences issued in the 2007/2008 period compared with the previous 12 months, and this has grown by a further 5 % in the 2008/2009 period, which may be a result of the newly introduced regulation, which allows individuals as young as 16 years to obtain a student pilot's licence, provided they fulfil all the requirements,” Jordaan said.

In devising additional attempts to help develop the highly sought-after skills in the industry, Sacaa was mooting several initiatives with key stakeholders. Some of the impending projects included a scheme to providing upgrade training to pilots, as well as the joint African Aviation Training Initiative that was aimed at training ab-initio pilots and technicians.

“However, all of these efforts will not yield any positive results if the youth of this country do not show any interest in what I can certainly describe as a truly dynamic industry. If ever there was a point when South Africa needed the services of its youth, that time is now,” concluded Jordaan.

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