CAAB's activities hampered due to shortage of manpower

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) registers all aircrafts and helicopters that are added to the Bangladeshi airlines. The organization undertakes the responsibility of inspecting, maintaining and repairing all aircrafts. Other than that, CAAB is also responsible for ensuring the welfare of local and foreign pilots who come from all over the world. It also issues the flight license of pilots flying commercial flights. However, the Flight Safety and Regulations division of CAAB lacks manpower to properly regulate all activities. Currently, there are four active local airlines. In total, they have 33 aircraft. The eight helicopter operators have 23 helicopters under them. Other than that, four cargo airlines and the flying academies have several small aircrafts. All of these have a total of about 300 pilots. CAAB sources informed that from the moment the aircraft are bought until they phase out, they remain under CAAB supervision. A CAAB clearance is needed while purchasing aircraft. After they are bought, Flight Safety and Regulations division oversees the registration and maintenance of the aircraft. Besides, there are flight instructors working with the pilots to ensure flight security. Sources informed that, according to the 1985 organogram, there are 3,716 posts for officials and employees in CAAB. Among them, 12 are currently working for Flight Safety and Regulations division. They conduct all inspections. Even though the division requires more manpower, the existing organogram does not allow for further recruitment. However, a new organogram with sufficient posts has been drafted, which is currently pending government approval. To fight the shortage of manpower, CAAB keeps recruiting contractual consultants. Currently, there are about 45 consultants working on contracts in the Flight Safety division. Talking on this topic, Wing Commander of Flight and Safety Regulations division of CAAB, Chowdhury M Ziaul Kabir said: "After the new organogram gets approved, it will be possible to recruit more people. We will be able to recruit 127 people in the first stage alone. Therefore, flight safety will be reinforced." This article was first published on banglatribune.com