Schools, Fees, Huge Salary: What It Takes To Be A Pilot In Kenya
On Saturday, October 14, national carrier Kenya Airways refuted claims doing rounds on social media that an unlicensed pilot had flown planes for the airline for eight years.
admin
Everyone has at one point in their childhood dreamt of becoming a pilot, motivated by the number of times we have looked up to the sky to see a passenger aircraft flying over us as it climbs to cruising altitude.
Once one looks at planes, the next dream is to get inside one for the first time to travel from point A to B, and in the future, be the one controlling the plane while flying the flag for some of the world's most prestigious airlines.
On Saturday, October 14, national carrier Kenya Airways refuted claims doing rounds on social media that an unlicensed pilot had flown planes for the airline for eight years.
A Kenya Airways plane landing at an airport. /FILE
"Our attention has been drawn to a news story circulating on online blogs and different social media platforms alleging that a Kenyan Pilot flew for Kenya Airways for 8 years without a Pilot's license. The General Public is advised to treat this as Fake News as no such pilot has ever flown for Kenya Airways," KQ stated in part in its press release.
The airline added that all its pilots and crew go through very rigorous training, background, and security checks to ensure that they are qualified to operate.
Further due diligence is conducted while vetting applicants including verification of documents from the institution where an applicant attended training
"KQ operates in a highly regulated environment with regular audits from a number of regulators across its network. All pilot licenses are issued and renewed annually by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), upon establishing that the holder has met the required knowledge and experiences," added the statement.
Despite Viral Tea being unable to independently trace the news story that prompted KQ's response, many saw it as a reaction to the fanfare generated after quack lawyer Brian Mwenda was busted by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) for masquerading as a certified lawyer without his real identity being traced in the lawyers' portal and practising law impressively without a licence.
Viral Tea takes a look at what it takes to be a pilot in Kenya:
Oftentimes, many of those who would otherwise qualify as pilots kill their own dreams prematurely either because they fail to seek information on how to pursue their dream career or by assuming a pessimistic stance that only those who are super-bright and superrich make it to the profession.
Qualifications
One of the most surprising things about qualifying to be a pilot is that an average student can easily find themselves employed as a captain in one of Kenya's, Africa's, and the world's leading airlines.
According to the Kenya Airways Careers Site, the minimum educational qualification for a Direct Entry Pilot is a Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) mean grade of C or an equivalent with at least grade C in English, Mathematics, Physics/Chemistry/Physical Science.
Some of the flight schools in Kenya require a minimum KCSE mean grade of C+ or an equivalent with at least a grade of C+ in English and other training-relevant subjects. However, one must score Grade "A" in Aeroplane Performance Rating, one of the tests that commercial airline pilots must undergo.
Further, an aspiring KQ Direct Entry Pilot must have a Kenyan Commercial Pilot License (CPL) with instrument rating with no limitations and a minimum of 250 hours accident as well as incident-free.
Besides the technical training, KQ pilot applicants must also pass aptitude, psychometric, medical, psychomotor, flight, and positive referencing assessments.
With pilots working in teams for commercial flights, airlines also require pilots to be strong team players, have high integrity, and have excellent interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills. This is because many tasks in the cockpit require going through checklists, for take-off, and emergency situations.
Given the cutthroat competition in the airline business, pilots must also sound friendly to their passengers during their communications which reassure clients that they are cared for and that they are incapable hands. Thus, other qualifications include:
Passion for flying
You cannot make a good a if you are not interested in flying. You must demonstrate that you are passionate about flying without any external influences or peer pressure before you can be accepted into an aviation school.
Aptitude
A prospective student must be taken up in the air for about five sessions to evaluate their potential and ability before being admitted to the school.
Discipline
Piloting requires a focused individual; hence one has to give up things such as smoking, miraa and all other forms of substance abuse. Shortcuts and the Kenyan matatu attitude are not condoned at aviation schools.
Becoming A Direct Entry Pilot
To rise to be a Direct Entry Pilot for commercial airlines requires that you start as a pilot trainee, the lowest stage.
To even qualify for this stage, KCAA requires that students be at least 16 years old and demonstrate the ability to read, write and understand the English language. Potential pilot trainees must also possess a valid Class 2 Medical Certificate.
Kenya Airways aircraft at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. /FILE
To be allowed to fly an aeroplane day and night, one must be at least 17 years of age and have a Private Pilot License (PPL), which allows students to obtain the foundational knowledge and skills for all future aircraft pilot training.
With the PPL, a trainee can carry passengers such as friends, family and co-workers but cannot be compensated or hired. The PPL only acts as a foundation course on the pathway to a Commercial Pilot's License (CPL).
Commercial pilots train as private pilots, which allows them to learn the basics of flying before progressing into more complicated planes and situations. Having a CPL with Grade A allows flying for compensation or hire, so it is the choice if you wish to pursue flying as a career.
Cost of Training
Despite aviation, especially piloting, being a dream career for many children and youth, arguably the biggest obstacle to achieving the dream is the cost of training. Simply put, you face the reality of spending millions of shillings for an exercise that can take up to 18 months.
One of the flying schools in Kenya for instance charges approximately Ksh6,000,000 for helicopter training, for both theory and flying lessons.
For the first basic license, the Private Pilots License which takes six months to complete, the school charges Ksh800,000. To obtain the second level license, the CPL training, one must pay Ksh2,600,000 with the training estimated to last between 8-12 months.
For the last stage for those looking to fly commercial airplanes, the training for a two-engine plane which is called instrument rating and multi-engine rating, a pilot must part with Ksh1,300,000.
The total cost for the entire training, a pilot will have paid Ksh4,700,000, close to Ksh5 million, but the fees slightly range depending on the flying school you choose. This, coupled with the high cost of living and many families being well off, locks out many from pursuing their dream, that is if we were to exclude fundraisers through friends, churches, old school networks etc.
Alternatively, one can train outside the country, with the USA, South Africa and Canada being common destinations where it could take from six to 14 months and is cheaper compared to Kenya. However, the downside of studying outside is that once you return to Kenya, you have to part with close to Ksh1 million for pilot license costs.
Salary
Perhaps the most rewarding part of paying millions of shillings for flying school is the salary that comes with it, though it depends on whether one is working as a private pilot or commercial pilot.
Private pilots earn based on their negotiation skills and how much their clients are willing to pay per hour of flight. On the other hand, commercial pilots are paid according to their rank and experience.
The pilot salary in Kenya is a very controversial subject, with expatriates earning more than their Kenyan counterparts. An expatriate pilot takes home about Ksh 716,802 while local Boeing pilots earn Ksh483,000.
On average, the lowest-earning pilots take home about Ksh132,000 while the highest-earning pocket a cool Ksh420,000 per month.
On average, for instance, Kenya Airways' pilots cost the airline Ksh1.3 million, a sum rivalling the pay of top chief executives of State-owned firms and even the President of the Republic of Kenya. However, some airlines around the world pay their captains as high as $549,882 (about Ksh60 million).
Flying Schools
Kenya has about 16 approved aviation schools that offer flying, air traffic control, aircraft maintenance engineering, and flight operations courses. Most of them are based at Wilson Airport in Nairobi.
However, the institution you choose must be accredited by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA). Some of the flying schools in Kenya include:
- East African School of Aviation at Airport North Road, Embakasi, Nairobi
- Kenya Airways (KQ) Pride Centre at KQ headquarters, Embakasi, Nairobi
- Mt Kenya Flight School in Nanyuki, Laikipia County
- Kenya School of Flying at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Standards Aviation Flying School at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Flight Training Centre at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Ninety-Nines Flying School at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Proactive Flying School at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Skymax Aviation Limited at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Aerosafe African Consultants at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Nairobi Flight Training at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Westrift Aviation Limited at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Capital Connect Aviation at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Pegasus Flyers (EA) Limited at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Think Aviation Training at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
- Flitestar Academy at Wilson Airport, Nairobi
