Air Force skills taking flight
Date: 13 November 2008
Pretoria - Skills retention is a problem threatening operations at the SA Air Force (SAAF), its chief, Lieutenant General Carlo Gagiano, said on Thursday.
"This is a major threat to operations," he said.
He was addressing the media at the Waterkloof Air Force Base.
He said that the SAAF was losing skilled staff to private companies and foreign countries, adding that the Air Force could not compete with this.
"We will never be able to compete with the private sector, but at least we need to move a little bit closer," he said.
This was in light of increasing staff salaries in order to retain them.
He added that the Air Force would "engage all the relevant stakeholders" in order to address the matter.
He said the force was losing staff "across the board, mainly pilots, air traffic controllers, and technicians".
Most of the staff were being lost to Australia and the Middle East, he said, adding that in South Africa, Air Force staff were being lost to various sectors.
He added that the military would continue to train people. He said parastatals should also train people.
"They should also train... and that is not really happening.
"I think it is irresponsible of parastatals not to train because if we're not going to supply enough aviation people to this country then we are going to suffer," said Gagiano.
On the issue of how the military planned to retain staff, he said a process of dialogue was necessary, adding that the brain drain was not only a South African problem but a global one.
"Normally the remedy is too little too late," he said.
He said that the public would see less of the Air Force in air shows next year as the force needed to prepare itself for the upcoming Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup soccer spectacle.
"It's a daunting task, we'll have to keep on preparing ourselves, 2010 is going to be extremely busy for us," he said.
An exercise in preparation for unforeseen contingencies was carried out in two phases in Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein.
This year the Air Force had flown on operations on the continent, some of which were operations to Burundi and Sudan.
Closer to home, he said the Air Force was keen on expanding its maritime patrol.
The Air Force also partook in firefighting in the North West, Free State, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces.
Source: SAPA
