Uganda Airlines needs more autonomy
Many successful airlines are run independently of traditional government bureaucracies. This is because of the complexities and globalised nature of the industry.
Decision-making in government is never compatible with security and safety requirements which are key drivers of aviation.
Decisions in these two areas need to be based on empirical data, timely and professionally executed.
It should be noted that aviation is highly capital intensive with very low returns on investment and any decision made based on emotions without precision could be very disastrous to the lives of passengers and cargo.
Returns are low because many airlines are price getters in terms of ticket costs, meaning they adapt to market-set prices than being able to control their pricing.
Successful airlines worldwide also survive on excellent reputation in terms of positioning mappings in the minds of the global customer who is a passenger.
Accordingly, many of these need to be managed by aviation-trained professionals who know the industry in-depth, especially airline financial management.
Many countries that are succeeding in running this critical economic infrastructure have recognised the sector in their economic planning/ development and created very robust oversight mechanisms that will ensure the optimisation of synergies across the ecosystems of the economy.
For example countries such as Seychelles created a ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, and so did India and Malaysia. This is because of the strong symbiotic relationship between aviation and tourism, where airlines move close to 60 percent of tourists across the world as per United Nations Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) parameters. By doing this, supervision and coherency in national strategies are achieved. Uganda has a unique and great tourism potential that can be optimised by this synergy.
Next door in Ethiopia, the airline is run as an independent body and there is no interference from the central government. Ethiopian Airlines continued to operate successfully even when Ethiopia was at war. Emirates, Singapore, and Qatar airlines are other success stories.
These are excellent lessons for Uganda if the huge investment of close to Shs1.4 trillion is to achieve its objective of improving our economy.
Technically, aviation is a world of its own under the clear supervision of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in Montreal, Canada which was formed in 1944 to oversee the coordination of this critical industry.
National supervisory bodies should therefore be direct subordinates to ICAO to eliminate many lines of bureaucracies and improve effective decision-making.
In addition to supervisory structures, Uganda Airlines needs urgent support in terms of personnel training. The government needs to further improve the management and financing of Soroti Flying School for pilots, and avionic and communication engineers and support private institutions training other aviation personnel in cabin crew, customer care, financial management as well as strategic planning. One good proposal is to hand over the school to Uganda Civil Aviation Authority to run it with clear key performance indicators.
Soroti Flying School if well managed can supply the demand for pilots and engineers in the region. This will also improve the inspectorate capacity of the industry since it is a mandatory requirement by ICAO.
It should be noted that Uganda is naturally gifted in aviation as it has produced excellent pilots and aviation managers in the past. This is another excellent opportunity that can support the government’s objective of externalisation of professional labour. There will also be a need to partner with international aviation training institutions to sponsor Ugandans to be trained and exposed to the required skills.
Lastly, the airport infrastructure, systems, and other related services need to be further improved, especially to create a friendly, seamless, and everlasting experience for the airline users. The experience in the home airport of the airline plays a vital role in the airline’s passenger satisfaction experience equation. This may require consistent reviews of passenger services at Entebbe International Airport and faster mechanisms for quick touches to ensure passenger satisfaction and delight.
All these issues are supported by the fact that our airline has great potential and the country needs to prepare for and support this growth.
For example, the airline has signed 24 bilateral services with 24 countries in only three years of operation, 11 routes are already operational.
All these routes have good load factors which require a strategic approach in terms of national planning.
Uganda Airlines is also in the process of getting an approved maintenance organisation certificate from the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority. The board and management as well as staff need to align themselves with this growth in terms of professionalism, governance, and strategy if the economic returns for the investment are to be realised.
Tom Davis Wasswa,
