QUALITY AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN PRIVATE AVIATION IN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The aviation industry is one of the most Quality & Safety demanding industry sector where a single malfunction or fault may lead to the fatal and catastrophic accident of an aircraft that may cause loss of life and property. This also might be a good cause for a company to bankrupt due to loss of market share and reliability. The objective of this study is to assess the Quality Management System & Safety Management System Practices in the Private Air Operators in Ethiopia. Descriptive analysis method is applied for conducting the research; the study used primary data sources and also secondary data sources. The Primary data collection instruments that were used are questionnaires and observation. Secondary data are from different literatures, books and journals. The required primary data are collected using questionnaires with total of fifty questions out of which forty five are closed questions and five are open ended questions. The study targeted 51 management and senior level employees out of the total population of 248 of Private Air Operators in Ethiopia and 43 responses were received for analysis. The collected quantitative data are analyzed using descriptive statistics from SPSS. The Findings or results indicate that there are some drawbacks in implementing QMS & SMS in the Private Air Operators in Ethiopia. The Private Operators are not encouraged by the government so that to invest and engage in the aviation industry and this in turn has an impact in developing QMS & SMS; it will be more successful when Private Operators and government work together. The Air Operators should have willing to adopt QMS & SMS but instead it is adopted because of the enforcement made by Regulatory Bodies and Customer requirement, the Air Operators lack confidence on the positive outcomes to be gained by practicing QMS & SMS. It is recommendable that the government to play a major role in supporting the private aviation sector and Private Air Operators to fully adopt and implement QMS & SMS by considering it as an asset for the future benefit of the organization.