Seventeen Akwa Ibom Indigenes have qualified as the Bombardier CRJ 900 Aircraft Engineers, Ibom Air has announced.
Group Manager, Marketing and Communications of the Airline, Mrs. Aniekan Essienette who disclosed this on Tuesday in a media chat with correspondents in Uyo said such would ensure the in-house maintenance as well as the sustainability of the aircrafts.
She however hinted that Ibom air is a specialized industry such that the basic criterion for choosing staff is not necessarily based on indigene but professionalism and expertise hence the reason for training the Engineers from the State so that they will be part of the process.
According to her, “as a matter of fact, 17 young indigenous trainee maintenance engineers have qualified or are on the verge of being qualified as Bombardier CRJ 900 Aircraft Engineers.
“I want to use this opportunity to dispel the fears around Ibom Air’s sustainability, especially being a state owned Airline. I will call your attention to the fact that many successful Airlines globally are state owned. Our aim is to grow Ibom Air to a global acclaim.”
On the achievements so far recorded, Essienette explained, “since the 7th of June 2019 when Ibom Air commenced operations as a bold new idea with 3 Aircraft, now you can say that we are the “new kid on the block” and the whole nation has stood up and taken notice of what we can put on the table,
“18 months down the line, Ibom Air currently boasts a fleet of five bombardier CRJ 900 aircraft (the youngest airline fleet in the country) and currently covers 5 destinations: Uyo, Lagos, Abuja, Calabar and Enugu, with an unmatched record of schedule reliability and on-time departure performance.
“We are also constantly looking for innovative ways to serve and retain our customers. To this end, we have recently introduced our In-flight magazine, the Fulcrum, for our passengers’ reading pleasure onboard. We have more initiatives in the works for the near future.”
She said in 2021, Ibom Air shall be expanding to other routes apart from the existing ones adding that it had remained the first and only state-owned Airline in the country, venturing into uncharted territory and daring to make a success of it.
Also responding to some questions, Director of Airline Services Ms Amaka Echetabu said that perceived delays in take off of flights were due to factors outside their control saying that the company would not compromise on safety.
Echetabu said the Airline’s trusted maintenance team has continued to conduct in-house maintenance as there has been no need for outside maintenance and would continue to train indegenes too to take over the maintenance of the aircrafts.
The Director said that for now they would continue to concentrate on improving its domestic dominance while plans to go international would be strategic, and with larger aircrafts when plans are finalised.
