Flight International - June 30, 2015 UK

WORKING WEEK

fiightglobal.com 30 June-6 July 2015 | Flight International | 43

De KIerk was born in Pretoria, South Africa and works there still

When flying is a family affair

Jannie de Klerk is international operations manager for National Airways Corporation, providing charter, sales

and leased fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft from Pretoria – and sometimes dealing with unhelpful authorities

WORK EXPERIENCE JANNIE DE KLERK

Are authorities overly

restrictive?

Dealing with incompetent au-

thorities in the industry compli-

cates the simplest of things. In

Africa the authorities tend to

think they serve purely a polic-

ing function and forget they are

also there to help solve issues in

the best interest of their custom-

ers, which are the operators.

Dealing with authorities all over

the globe on a regular basis, I be-

lieve this attitude seems to be a

lot worse in Africa and is causing

the industry to grow a lot more

slowly than in other parts of the

world. In Africa, for some reason,

each authority has its own inter-

pretations, and even within the

same country the opinions of in-

spectors differ. Most people have

the wrong opinion on how avia-

tion is governed and do not real-

ise that this is one of the most

governed industries in the world.

Companies such as National Air-

ways Corporation pride them-

selves on having some of the

highest accreditations in the in-

dustry and spend millions every

year on continuous improve-

ment to be a step ahead of our

competitors. n

How did you get started?
Both my mother and my father
were pilots so it was the obvious
thing to do. I always tell people
that aviation is a way of life, not
just a job. A person needs to live
aviation, not just work in it. I
have gone full circle on the train-
ing as far as ICAO safety and all
the usual goes, but successful
operations is mostly something
you learn by experience. The
best training I ever got came from
the people I have worked with
over the years and I continue to
learn on a daily basis.
Where have you worked?
My first aviation job was as an
operations manager in 1991 for
two companies simultaneously:
Avia Air Charter and Tropair
Charter, based at Wonderboom
airport outside Pretoria, South
Africa. Tropair Charter special-
ised in flying charters in south-
ern Africa for the tourist and cor-
porate industries, while Avia Air
Charter specialised in contract
work, operating a large fleet of
aircraft in Africa, including
Douglas DC-3 Dakota turbo-
props, McDonnell Douglas DC-6s
and Bombardier Learjets. From
this I moved on to Debonair
Tours as operations manager, op-
erating DC-3 aircraft for the tour-
ist and corporate industry in
southern Africa, based out of
Lanseria airport, Johannesburg.
In 1997 I got involved in a new
start-up charter business known
as Naturelink Aviation. In 2010
Naturelink Aviation was sold to
National Airways Corporation,

one of the largest general aviation

companies in Africa. I am cur-

rently the manager of interna-

tional operations on the leasing

side of the business within

National Airways.

What is your company’s

mission?

We specialise in offering aviation

solutions to our clients, includ-

ing new and used aircraft sales,

as well as leasing and charters of

fixed-wing aircraft and helicop-

ters. Our fixed-wing fleet consists

of King Air series, Beechcraft

1900, Embraer EMB-120, and

ERJ-145 and Hawker-series air-

craft, throughout Africa and the

Middle East. Our clients include

the UN and the oil, gas and min-

ing industries, as well as many

corporate and commercial

clients. Management of the inter-

national leasing fleet throughout

Africa and the Middle East is my

responsibility.

What do you focus on?

Getting more of our aircraft

deployed into Africa and the

Middle East for various missions.

We face challenges on a daily

basis in this business as we’re

dealing with different countries

with different regulations and

cultures.

“We are dealing with

different countries

with different

regulations and

cultures”

National Airways Corporation

If you would like to feature in

Working Week, or you know

someone who does, email your

pitch to kate.sarsfield@

flightglobal.com

Looking for a job in aerospace?

Check out our listings online at

flightglobal.com/jobs

FLIGHT SAFETY

SYMPOSIUM

Park Inn by Radisson, London Heathrow

15 th – 16th September 2015

http://www.fl ightglobalevents.com/fl ightsafetysymposium2015

DOWNLOAD

THE

BROCHURE

In association with: