QUALITY TRAINING BEHIND PRECISION AIR’S LAUNCH OF AN APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMME
(Posted 23rd July 2018)
Tanzania’s leading airline Precision Air Services PLC, has launched an apprenticeship program for young Tanzanian aircraft technicians who aspire to become future engineers. The program has been launched to combat scarcity of licensed aircraft engineers in the market.
Precision Air which is the only airline with an MRO in Tanzania – and also the only airline listed at the Dar es Salaam stock exchange – has launched the program in efforts to develop needed skills for its technical unit through field attachment, volunteering and apprenticeship.
In the first intake of apprentice Precision Air has recruited 22 candidates under the Engineering and Maintenance Department. The candidates will undergo in job training to upgrade their knowledge in a practical setup.
Commenting on the program, Precision Air’s Managing Director and CEO Ms. Sauda Rajab said, finding needed skills in the aviation industry in Tanzania is the one of the biggest challenges. She added that Precision Air as market leader cannot sit back and complain and that is the reason they had to come up with a program to help find solutions for the benefit of the industry at large. ‘We are proud of our contribution in developing needed skills in the aviation industry in Tanzania. With this program our aim is to develop as many licensed engineers as possible so as to meet our skills needs and for the industry as well“ she explained to ATCNews.org.
On the other hand Ms. Rajab pointed out that, it takes about eight (8) years to develop a fully trained, licensed engineer with a lot of investment in training, so she expects other players in the industry to take similar initiatives instead of relying on expatriates alone so that we can strengthen the industry and help create employment for the youth.
Precision Air also signed a skills development agreement in 2017 with the National Institute of Transport, the agreement which allows students who takes different courses at NIT to undergo practical training at Precision Air, with the possibility of permanent employment based on candidate performance during the intership and apprenticeship program. So far Precision Air has trained a total of 33 interns since the inception of the program.
Precision Air Services was established in 1993 as a private charter air Transport Company mainly providing connections to tourists visiting the rich natural attractions of Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, in northern Tanzania, the Zanzibar Island in the Indian Ocean and other parts of the country from Arusha town as its base. Currently headquartered in Dar Es Salaam it has grown to become a reputable airline in East Africa and Africa at large. Operating from Dar es Salaam with flights to Arusha, Bukoba, Kilimanjaro, Mtwara, Mwanza, Tabora, Zanzibar,Nairobi and Entebbe.
