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However, Westair Aviation chief executive officer Henri van Schalkwyk, aviation industry experts, and Signa Aviation Services managing director (MD) Francois Hugo, who claim the above, have failed to inform the Namibian public on the whole truth of the manner of recruiting pilots in Namibia as alleged by interviewed former employees of FlyNamibia.They allege that FlyNamibia retrenched about 80 of its workers in 2021, of which about 30 were pilots, as a measure to save the company from the negative outcomes of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many, if not all, of these retrenched pilots are jobless at home, according to the former workers.The disappointed former employees further allege that many of Air Namibia's former pilots were forced to pack their bags to go and work abroad in especially African countries, since opportunities for employment were denied them by local private aviation companies.It also comes to light that the aviation industry in Namibia is a white, male-dominated sector, because non-white Namibian pilots are discriminated against and sidestepped when it comes to employment opportunities, the former workers allege.The end result is thus that FlyNamibia tends to want to recruit white pilots from neighbouring South Africa mainly, and where they do so for non-white Namibians, their salaries are substandard – thereby discouraging them from applying for positions, they further allege.In the meantime, one can't but wonder how FlyNamibia opportunistically capitalised on the tragic redundancy of Air Namibia (for which Namibians refuse to forgive the Cabinet) with regard to their new brand – especially in light of Hugo's statement that he “thinks the private institutions are stepping into the functions of the government”, which reeks of opportunistic arrogance.These and other questions were the ones The Namibian should have asked from FlyNamibia. Yet the main one lingers: Why does FlyNamibia not simply re-employ their former retrenched pilots rather than lament a shortage, which does not exist, just to betray Namibians by recruiting foreign pilots, if the allegations are true? Hugo further states they “hope that private aviation companies like FlyNamibia will extend support to young Namibians in order to sustain the aviation industry”.Van Schalkwyk adds that FlyNamibia has a bursary scheme they offer to future aviators. Why do they not make use of their own pilots who are at home then? There may be a significant problem in most neighbouring countries' aviation, but in Namibia scores of domestic pilots sit idle at home. Van Schalkwyk sees a long-term problem of a shortage of pilots, while there is a short-term solution right at their doorstep. What happened to 'Be Namibian, Buy Namibian'?Red Elephant

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