Air traffic hiring policy clips Lebanon’s wings
▶ At Beirut, the number of staff guiding flights is a fifth of what is needed and graduate controllers are frustrated
Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International, the only civilian airport in Lebanon, is woefully short of certified air traffic controllers, employing only a fifth of the number recommended by global standards.
Despite the availability of qualified candidates, hiring has been delayed for months because of a problem that afflicts much of the public sector – the potential recruits do not sufficiently represent the country’s many religions and sects.
International guidelines say the capital’s airport should have between 80 and 100 approved controllers, but it has 19.
Another 19 are working as assistant air-traffic controllers but have not been properly certified, despite some having been in position for as long as eight years, airport insiders told The National.
About 8.23 million travellers used Rafik Hariri International Airport last year, authorities said in February. That number is expected to reach 10 million by 2020.
Since the start of the Syrian conflict, traffic through Beirut has increased rapidly as people fly into Lebanon and continue overland to the border.
“There have been no accidents, thank God,” said one airport employee. “To have people working without licences is very dangerous. Plus, we have people who should be retired still working to support us. This is dangerous.”
Last August, 25 candidates passed the civil service exam to become air traffic controllers. None have been officially hired yet because the document that would formalise their positions has not been signed by President Michel Aoun.
Members of that group, and current airport employees, told The National that only two of the people who passed the exam were Christians. That, they believed, was the reason for the delay.
As with the position of president, speaker of parliament and prime minister, public sector positions across the board have to maintain a balance across the country’s sects and denominations.
This consideration adds to the difficulty of finding qualified candidates and can delay public sector appointments for years. Preserving sectarian quotas within Lebanon’s government is a priority for Christians.
The country has gone for more than 80 years without an official census, partly because its Christian community fears its numbers are far lower than the numbers on which seats in government are apportioned.
The Free Patriotic Movement, which Mr Aoun founded, has been championing a platform of restoring the rights of Lebanon’s Christians, including within the public sector.
Sources said the proportion of Christians who passed the exam reflected the percentage of Christian applicants – about 10 per cent.
Lebanon divides government positions into five categories. While the constitution called for an end to sectarian quotas in many public service jobs, the bill stipulates that tier-one jobs be equally apportioned between Muslims and Christians.
Air traffic controllers are considered tier three or four positions, depending on the candidate’s experience, and although they do not legally require sectarian considerations in hiring it is often common practice to maintain the balance.
The situation has left the newly recruited controllers feeling frustrated and often jobless in the interim.
“I can’t sign a contract with a company because I’m just waiting to follow up with this job,” said one of the people who passed the exam last year. A spokesman for Mr Aoun’s office declined to comment on the matter, as did the office of Prime Minister-designate, Saad Hariri.
The delay could present a dilemma for travellers.
“You shouldn’t be afraid but you should be concerned,” an airport employee said.
Lebanon’s air traffic controllers oversee landings and take-offs from Beirut, but they also ensure the safe passage of all air traffic over Lebanese territory.
Every plane crossing to Syria and beyond comes under the stewardship of Beirut’s controllers for that leg.
Ali Hammoud, head of the Lebanese Air Traffic Controllers Association, said bureaucracy often led to seemingly simple decisions taking months or even years, and that so far he had no reason to believe the decree would be rejected.
“In my case, when I was hired, it [took] a year and a half. The previous group was eight months to be hired,” Mr Hammoud said.
“This decree should be different due to the dire situation at the airport.”
Despite the problems, the government still has plans to renovate and expand the airport. This year, at an international donor conference for Lebanon, the government sought US$500 million (Dh1.83bn) for such an overhaul.
In recent months, Lebanon’s air traffic controllers have held short, symbolic strikes – usually just an hour long and many times to coincide with cabinet sessions – over wages and hiring.
The failure to provide promised pay rises and hire more employees is a problem across the public sector in Lebanon, even as international financial organisations such as the International Monetary Fund apply pressure to Beirut to cut its public sector further because of the country’s mounting public debt.