Aircraft Maintenance Technology - 15

FROM THE WEST COAST
Africa World Airlines Limited (AWA) is a Ghanaian
registered private-sector company. Africa World
Airlines was incorporated on Nov. 15, 2010 and
received its air carrier license (ACL) from Ghana
Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) in March 2011 with
its first flight on Sept. 21, 2012.
According to Africa World Airways chief operating officer Sean Mendis, AWA operates a fleet of
eight Embraer ERJ-145LRs. It has continued to develop and grow its internal maintenance capabilities.
Mendis says, "After depending heavily on AMOs in
the initial stages of our operation, we now do our
own line maintenance and recently received LMO
(line maintenance organization) certification from
Ghana Civil Aviation Authority to conduct checkups
to and including A-checks. We have also taken over

LEFT: AFRICA World
Airways technicians
working on the nose
gear on one of their
aircraft.
ABOVE: AFRICA
World Airways
technicians finishing a
maintenance task on
left engine.
AFRICA WORLD AIRWAYS

our own Continuing Airworthiness management,
as well as developed our own reliability group that
recently was recognized by Embraer for providing
the highest quality reliability data among Embraer
145 operators worldwide."
AWA has also developed in-house wheel and
battery shops, and is in the process of setting up
its own nondestructive inspection/testing facility.
Mendis goes on to say, "Our medium term goal
is to be able to certify ourselves as an AMO, initially for the purpose of conducting our own base
maintenance and potentially offering third-party
services after that." AWA currently uses two AMOs
for maintenance above their internal capability and
for C-checks.

COO Mendis says, "Aviation maintenance in West
Africa is challenging. Not only is there a lack of
indigenous maintenance facilities in the region,
but the hidden costs such as shipping, customs,
etc., often add 30 to 50 percent in costs as well as
additional turnaround time."
When asked about the airline's biggest challenge
Mendis points to the lack of qualified and experienced staff as the biggest challenge to all aspects
of maintenance. "Licensing processes effectively
require young engineers to study abroad for FAA/
EASA licenses, then return home and get these
validated/converted before they are able to actually
certify maintenance. There needs to be a better
training and licensing system in the region that
allows the most talented engineers to develop, as
opposed to only those who are able to afford the
training process," the COO says.
AWA has invested in young talent at an early
stage by offering internships for young engineering students where they work with AWA during
their school breaks, allowing them to get handson experience. This also permits them to evaluate
potential engineers for future employment. Mendis
explains, "We then invest in these fresh graduates
by giving those hands-on experience, as well as
offering loans for them to complete their licensing
exams. It is a matter of some pride for us that a
number of the young graduates we hired as the
airline was setting up are now fully licensed and
releasing aircraft on the line every day."
Mendis admits though this talent pipeline is a
slow one, and they are forced to rely on higherpriced expatriates to plug short-term skill shortages
that inevitably crop up in a growing airline. The
COO concludes by saying, "Nonetheless, we are
hopeful that our investment in young talent will
be a viable longer term strategy."
Mendis concludes with this, "There is no reason that
an African maintenance organization cannot deliver
international standard work, despite the logistical
and resource challenges in the region. Unfortunately,
Africa in general has a bad reputation when it comes
to maintenance standards so there is a bit of extra
work that needs to be done to establish credibility."

FROM EAST AFRICA
Dawit Lemma is the CEO of Krimson, the Ethiopiabased aviation services company, located at Addis
Ababa Bole International Airport. Krimson
offers 24/7 support for a range of aviation services including ground handling, flight support,

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Aircraft Maintenance Technology

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