FG lauded on aviation reforms, airport maintenance

Aviation veteran and a former Director of Flight Operations of the defunct Nigeria Airways, Capt. Dele Ore, has said in the 57 years of nationhood, Nigeria is beginning to get its aviation sector right.

He commended the efforts of the government towards giving the nation’s airports a facelift, saying recent developments in the sector presupposed the country was now serious about developing aviation.

“We have a government which is maintaining the airports. For the first time we have a minister who sticks his neck out to say, ‘Look, let’s look at Kaduna’. I support people who are dynamic and know what they are doing,” he said.

In a chat with Daily Trust, he also lauded the periodic review of the Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR) to meet the constant changes in global aviation.

He said this had improved the safety of the airspace, but that government should look into existing policies which many believed led to the deaths of over 57 airlines since independence.

“We have never had it so good but so many people don’t see it that way because the airlines are dying,” he said.

He tasked state and local governments to sponsor Nigerians to study in different areas of aviation: like aircraft engineering and maintenance, piloting, air traffic control, among others, to achieve the manpower requirements of the sector.

Ore, therefore, commended the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for approving the payment of pensioners of the defunct Nigeria Airways which, according to him, was ignored by previous governments.