New national company may emerge in Kazakhstan
The decision is intended to involve skilled professionals for flight safety supervision on equal salary terms with pilots so as to improve flight safety in Kazakhstan.
"For now, to appropriately check the quality of pilots and aircrafts, we cannot invite flight safety experts to the Committee [of Civil Aviation] because they are paid four to five times more by an airline. That means we have to create conditions to attract appropriate-level specialists to that work. It is possible only if we establish it as a joint-stock company, national company. To that end, we need to transfer some of the public functions to the company level (...) We expect that it will earn money on its own. Globally, these services are paid for. In Kazakhstan, the Committee renders such services free of charge. Hence, salaries of the Committee specialists are very low," Minister of Investment and Development of Kazakhstan Zhenis Kassymbek told a briefing after a Government session.
The proposal is based on the experience of the British civil aviation regulation model. In Great Britain, 800 people work in a company like that. In Kazakhstan, if the proposal is endorsed by the National Commission, local company won't have so many employees. There will also be inspectors from the Ministry.
"In the Committee, there are 76 employees. Two-thirds of the Committee are likely to be employed by that company in the future if the National Commission endorses the decision. If it doesn't, we will find other solutions to this problem," added Zhenis Kassymbek.
The Ministry aims to bring the compliance with ICAO flight safety standards up to 80%. Presently, it is 74% in Kazakhstan, over 93% in the United Kingdom, while the world and Europe average is 63% and 76%, respectively.