Aviation Engineers demand better pay

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The engineers who include civil and aeronautical engineers, telecommunications engineers, Mechanical, Electrical, Technicians, Artisans, say they are paid less, which has affected their efficiency while handling airport services.

However they refused to disclose how much money each earns, neither did they disclose the rate at which their salaries should be enhanced.

However records at the Civil Aviation Authority-CAA indicate that the highest paid engineer earns 23 million shillings per month, while other engineers are paid according to experience and skills.

Speaking at the Aviation Week celebrations in Entebbe on Tuesday, Andrew Mwesige, the President Uganda Air Transport Safety Engineers Association says that all aviation engineers are certified basing on international standards and therefore, they expect a uniform salary rate like their counterparts working at airports in other countries.

Mwesige indicated that most of the engineers in the field remain inexperienced because the country has one airport whose operations are done by foreigners leaving many of the young engineers inexperienced.

Edward Ndawula the president for CAA board of directors says, that CAA is willing to follow Aviation ratings to improve the salaries of the engineers.

The Managing Director CAA David Kakuba acknowledged that several aviation engineers are leaving the country in search for better pay, which makes the country’s aviation sector vulnerable.

“Whenever there is a single external job advert, over 90 CAA engineers apply but we’re still lucky that most of them fail to go through.”

He notes that management invests heavily in engineers’ trainings, and therefore expects high returns in form of expertise and commitment. He advised engineers to learn new innovations regarding the aviation industry which he has described to as dynamic.

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