CABIN CREW LICENSING: NO MR DG!!!

Article written february 2008

Some time last month some national dallies, credited The Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren as saying that NCAA has stopped licensing cabin crew in Nigeria. This was at a programme organized by ramp officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. The DG was quoted as saying “complaints had trailed the issue of cabin crew licensing that the authority would not mess around with safety certificates, since the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recommended standards did not require the civil aviation authorities to issue licenses to cabin crew” (I agree, sir).He went further to cite a case of a crew member whose leg was frozen during turbulence asking her to be calm, take control and stand up to operating procedure and control, stating if this had happened in Port-Harcourt, we would have saved lives.

Having waited for a rebuttal from the DG or NCAA spokesperson which has not come, I strongly feel it is time as an industry participant to speak up on this issue.

Let me state it categorically here that as at today;
 Cabin crew is still being licensed with requisite fees paid to NCAA.
 The operating procedure and control of Port-Harcourt crash had nothing to do with Cabin but the Cockpit Crew.
 Some other civil aviation authorities world over NCAA inclusive have gone beyond the ICAO minimum standard to license cabin crew
 That complaints regarding cabin crew licensing are from airlines CEOs, who wish to return to pre-cabin crew licensing era in order to control the training & licensing of cabin crew and the cost expended on licensing fees and training approvals.

I remember vividly when NACCA executives had a meeting with the DG NCAA who was then MD of Afrijet, he was not favorably disposed to the idea of cabin crew licensing.

Cabin Crew licensing: In the mid 90s, some cabin crew of the defunct Nigeria Airways Limited led the struggle for the licensing of cabin crew in Nigeria. In order to give the struggle more bite, they formed and registered a professional body, the National Cabin Crew Association of Nigeria (NACCA). NACCA with the support of International Transport Federation (ITF) and Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) started lobbying bodies and organizations within the industry on the need to license cabin crew. They started with the Licensing Unit, which was then under Federal Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA). It metamorphosed to the Directorate of Safety, Regulation &Monitoring (DSRAM) which is today in the Directorate of Licensing of NCAA.

Nigerian cabin crew started writing exams for their license with relevant agencies seven years ago before the creation of NCAA and is still doing it at the moment.

Is there cabin crew licensing in some other ICAO member countries?
I boldly say yes:

Egypt: ECRA Egyptian Civil Aviation Regulations
SUBPART A General 63.5 :No person may act as cabin crew of a civil aircraft of Egyptian registry unless they have in their possession a current cabin crew license issued under this Part and a current Class 2 medical assessment issued under Part 67.

Romania: Cabin staff operating in Romania must hold a license issued by the Romanian CAA in accordance with the provisions of RACR-LPN5. The application forms must be submitted to the Romanian CAA, with at least 5 working days before the examination.
The applicant must fill in only part A of the application forms. Part B of the theoretical exam application form contains the appropriate disciplines for each type of exams, i.e. first issue, revalidation, renewal or ratings.

NAMIBIA: Directorate of Civil Aviation - Legislation Part 61, Pilot Licensing. Part 63, Flight Engineer Licensing. Part 64, Cabin Crew Licensing and Part 65, Air Traffic Service Personnel Licensing.

Brazil: Cabin crew is licensed, after going through initial training with the military and then goes through company and type training with the airline that hires them. Thereafter they are issued their license.

Australia: FAA Australia recent report and recommendation to the government and joint committee of public accounts & audit: titled ‘review of aviation security in Australia’:
• Government explicitly recognize the critical safety & security based on the nature of cabin crew role and the evolving higher level of safety & security responsibility of cabin crew members.
• Government explicitly recognize the status of cabin crew as primary aviation participants and necessary consultation partners in development of aviation security provision, legislation and regulation
• Government recognizes the impact of commercial factors on the ability of the cabin crew to effectively perform their mandated safety & security responsibilities and provide legislative and regulatory support for the conduct of these critical duties.
• Government support the evaluation by ICAO of internationally agreed minimum standards of cabin safety and security compliance through the development of a cabin crew licensing regime. (Can NCAA do same for Nigerian cabin crew?)

Other countries that license their cabin crew are France, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Mauritius, Norway, Spain, Thailand, Oman, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador e.t.c. While the USA, UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland require them to hold a Certificate of Proficiency.

The benefits of cabin crew licensing include, but are not limited to improved cabin safety & training, cabin crew type rating on specified aircrafts, increase in cabin crew professionalism, which is evident in the standard of the average take home which has risen from N15, 000 ten years ago to N120, 000 in 2007. Also it generates revenue for NCAA (which has received over N23million from crew licensing fees) and provides employment for experienced cabin staff as cabin inspectors in NCAA and Lead Crew in private airlines.

The only existing credible check on cabin safety in Nigeria is the cabin crew license, the unsmiling but very professional Director of Licensing in NCAA, who goes by the book and ensures everything, goes according to standard and recommended practices have been able to provide a safe cabin in our aircrafts. Incidence of fire, dangerous goods spillage, unruly passengers, evacuation etc has been excellent and this is due solely to the stringent procedures that must be met prior to being licensed as cabin crew.

If we stop licensing, the industry should be prepared for misfits getting into the cabin, airlines cutting corners, enriching some half baked instructors in private airlines and painfully shredding an important part from the safety network.

The safety network here comprises of aviation inspectors, air traffic controllers, training institutions, pilots, maintenance personnel and the aircraft itself are all certified. Why remove the cabin crew? It becomes a weak link in the safety oversight chain. It is not a coincidence that cabin crew is an area where women’s employment is strong. Work that women do is often undervalued – and in this case, the safety professional role is undervalued, because employers tend to put so much emphasis on the so-called “female” service components of the job.

The reality today is that new aircrafts are designed with, the cockpit being manned by two pilots unlike in the past and the cockpit doors being reinforced and locked with little or no contact with the passengers on board, due to the advent of terrorism. For cabin crew, aircraft cabins are getting bigger and more sophisticated, such as the A380, B777, E190, CRJ 900 and the futuristic B787, A350 and B747X, so more cabin crew are needed on board these aircrafts.

It is pertinent to state here that the “Shoe Bomber” Richard Reid, on American Airlines, Flight 63 on December 22, 2001, en route from Paris to Miami, Florida, began acting strangely. He was assigned to an aisle seat near the middle of the aircraft, but he moved to an empty window seat after takeoff - where a bomb could have caused greater damage. When he tried to set light to his shoe, a member of the cabin crew told him to put out the light. Reid resisted, was subdued by the cabin crew and other passengers, who was then sedated by a doctor on board the plane. The crew later discovered the explosive inside Reid's shoes – subsequently, found to be TATP or triacetone tripe oxide. The device was taken to the back of the plane and wrapped in blankets and pillows to help absorb a potential explosion. (The profession goes beyond tea and coffee please!)

Survivability in airline accidents is rising, and in these situations, it is cabin crew who implement safety procedures. Access to the flight deck is now blocked to anyone in the cabin, so if there is an incident on board, cabin crew deal with it. Cabin crew themselves agree they feel recognized as safety professionals where licensing is in place – and this can affect the authority they have in doing this safety critical job. The more this is recognized by national and international authorities, employers and passengers, the better they will be at fulfilling this role – whether dealing with a security problem, an accident scenario or a case of air rage.

The DG NCAA should please not drag the country and profession backwards and make us all regret the autonomy recently granted to NCAA, but should place emphasis rather on recruiting & training cabin inspectors who should be stationed at our major airports for spontaneous checks, improved cabin training standards and the provision of hi-tech training facilities such as CPR Manikkens, multimedia projectors etc.

NACCA the umbrella professional body of the cabin crew in Nigeria should wake up from her slumber and be proactive. They should emulate their counterparts such as BBTK SETCA of Belgium, Suomen Lentoemäntä- JA Stuerttiyhdistys Ry of Finland, AFA of America and SNPNC of France who have taken their cases beyond the industry to highest level of government.

It is also an irritating norm in Nigeria, to see foreign airlines cabin crew being guarded and driven by gun-wielding and siren blowing policemen and licensed Nigerian cabin crew are at the mercy of airport taxis, commercial cyclist (okada) and the ubiquitous airport touts after operating flights.

Cabin crew licensing is here for improved cabin safety and professionalism, so let it be!!
article written February 2008