By Louis Ibah
AS a young lady, Ify Megwa, General Manager, Consumer Protection for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had desired to marry a pilot.
“I can confess that each time I travelled by air as a young girl, there was then inside me this desire to marry a pilot.” said Megwa.
There is no doubt that from whatever position aviation is viewed, it is usually the face of the pilot that props up first. For Megwa therefore, just like most other women who operate outside the aviation sector, the Pilot is all they get to see and know about.
“I admired pilots for so many things; there were smart and I saw them as having a life full of fun and I was also told they earned good salaries,” Megwa said. “But I can also tell you that all I knew about the aviation industry then was just restricted to pilots. That wasn’t really lofty in any way,” she added in an interview granted Daily Sun.
Ignorance comes with its own cost. In Nigeria, the women are paying a huge price for such ignorance as they have somewhat blatantly abandoned the industry and allowed it to be dominated by the men. “Majority of women view the aviation sector to be all about piloting and they also consider flying an aircraft as one job that has been predestined for men,” said Emilia Enima, a female travel agent. “These women have perhaps done the female folk more harm than good,” she added. It is a view corroborated by Megwa. “Ignorance is at the root of the low participation or employment of women in the aviation sector,” Megwa said.
She explained that although she didn’t end up marrying a pilot, that quest in itself, drove her in search of a carrier in the aviation sector.
“After my graduation from the University of Ibadan where I studied Communication Arts I searched for a job in the aviation industry and I got one at FAAN in 1987. And when the NCAA was established as a regulatory agency for the aviation sector, I moved over from FAAN to the NCAA as a pioneer staff,” she said “Now, it might interest you to note I have worked in aviation all my life, but I am neither a pilot nor aeronautical engineer.
“The point I am trying to emphasize, especially to the young ladies or women out there in search of a carrier, is that you don’t need to be a pilot or aeronautical engineer to be an aviator,” she added. Megwa, however represents a tiny fraction of Nigerian women who work in the country’s aviation industry.
A top female official who works at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) who declined to be named put the figure of women working in the sector at “less than 13 per cent.”
“I think, as far as the well paying aspect of the job in this industry is concerned, women constitute less than 13 per cent of the workforce population in the Nigeria aviation industry,” said the female official at the Lagos airport.
“And when I got into the industry properly, I now said to myself, why are there fewer women in the industry?
“Whenever I travel abroad for conferences I noticed that in some other countries there were more women on their team than the men.
“We only have the lead in figures in terms of air hostesses and ticketing officials. A lot still need be done to get more women get involved in aviation. A lot of opportunities abound in which the girl child in search of a future carrier path is ignorant,” she said.
If ignorance is the problem, where then can the women find the jobs in the aviation sector?
Air Traffic Controller:
The Air Traffic Controller directs all flight activities in order to ensure a safe and orderly flow of flight, give advice and information by radio to pilots, in order to separate it from obstruction and other flights. and monitors planes in and around the airport. The basic requirement is a First degree in the sciences field.
Meteorologist:
He or she analyzes weather data and makes weather reports to the pilot and dispatcher and then works with the flight dispatcher preparing flight plans. A university degree with a major in meteorology is required for the job.
Flight Dispatcher:
The flight dispatcher works the with the pilot planning flight requirements (fuel consumption, altitudes, traffic flow, weather, winds aloft) authorizes take-offs or cancels flights, and advises pilots in the air on weather or route changes. The job requires a University degree with a major in air transportation or meteorology.
Electronics engineer:
An electronics engineer is a person who designs the sensors and connections that tell the pilot of an aircraft that things are fine, or that there is a problem. He or she also designs the connections and devices that translate the motion of the pilot’s hand on the stick, for example, into impulses that are sent to the flap mechanism. An electronics engineer can have a BS degree or higher in electrical, mechanical, or aerospace engineering.
Structures engineer:
How does the pilot know that the wing of the plane won’t rip off when he or she flies really fast? Or how does a trucker know if a bridge is strong enough to hold his or her truck? A structures engineer designs and tests components and materials to see that they are strong and will last a long time. The structures engineer is an important member of the design team. Most structures engineers have at least BS degrees in civil, aerospace, or mechanical engineering.