Low Service At Dgca Despite High Employment

28 January 2023 Kuwait

In the past 15 years, the number of employees in the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has increased fivefold, despite a significant deterioration in the services provided to travelers.

Over 7,800 employees work for the DGCA, many of whom are political appointees who were fostered on the Authority by legislators and ministers. One minister alone is said to have appointed over 1,600 employees during his brief tenure as a minister. The lucrative jobs at the DGCA, which involve high salaries and perks besides limited working hours and shift timings that guarantee hefty allowances, have enticed many nationals to resort to influential intermediaries to seek appointment in the facility, which has caused the number of employees to increase significantly.

Kuwait International Airport (KIA), despite the presence of this army of civil aviation workers, gives visitors the impression of landing at an airport in a developing country, with poor facilities, a lack of amenities, and rude, inefficient and incompetent civil aviation workers.

In addition to being redundant considering the size of the airport, the number of passengers, and the services provided at KIA, the number of civil aviation staff is high when compared to airports with much larger passenger volumes.

For example, whereas the DGCA in Kuwait has more than 7,500 employees to cater to the 12 million passengers who transit KIA annually, Hamad International Airport in Doha has just around 3,800 employees to handle a passenger volume of over 35 million passengers annually. Data from airline and airport industry sources also show that Tokyo Haneda Airport has only about 2,729 employees to provide services to an estimated 26 million passengers that arrive and depart through the airport each year. Similarly, Beijing Capital International Airport in China, which caters to over 36 million passengers annually, has only 1,555 employees.

Despite the small number of workers at these large airports, they are still able to provide excellent and efficient services to passengers, as well as ease of movement throughout the airport, and efficient transportation to and from the airport. These airports are also able to provide travelers with relaxation spaces, duty-free shopping zones, and entertainment and dining areas, the likes of which passengers at KIA can only dream of.

Meanwhile, several high-level management and supervisory positions remain vacant at the DGCA due to political wrangling. The posts of the head of the General Administration of Civil Aviation and the general manager have been vacant for three months, according to reports. Additionally, the Deputy Director General for Financial, Administrative and Legal Affairs position has been vacant for four years, which has affected the issuance of decisions, reports and procedures for moving appointments within the administration.

 

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