Lead Stream trains first 20 CRJ aircraft engineers in Nigeria

Chukwuemeke Iwelunmo

Leads Stream, a training organisation says over 20 engineers have been trained on the CRJ aircraft for the first time in the country 20 years after introduction.

The Chief Executive Officer of Lead Stream training organisation, Engr Roland Ahmed told reporters in his office in Lagos that the institute was established late last year to build local capacity.

Ahmed explained that some Nigerian airlines acquired the CRJ aircraft more than twenty years ago but engineers were recently trained on the aircraft this year for the first time by a local institute for an airline in the country that was using the CRJ aircraft in its fleet.

He noted that the local training will save a huge amount of money and for the airlines and boost local content adding that Lead Stream was collaborating with other notable aviation training colleges.

While announcing that the institute will acquire a flight simulation for training, Ahmed decried the difficulties in the acquisition of aircraft spare parts in the country saying it was only done on papers and not in practice.

“I want to bring in the simulator and I am already thinking of waiver and these are the things i shouldn’t think about, we need to strengthen some of these policies, not just policy statements”

He called on the government to ensure that waiver on aircraft spare parts was made easier for operators to acquire through the Ease of Doing Business

“Government is not really encouraging business in Nigeria, little or nothing is really getting to us. They talk about zero duty for aircraft parts but in reality its not it”

On why there were unemployed pilots and aircraft engineers in the country, Ahmed disclosed that it was as a result of non-encouragement of the general aviation and called on the government to create a regulation to empower General Aviation.