When MAF aircraft in Tanzania need care, this long-serving engineer is the first to respond.
Heri Shekighenda is the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Engineer at Central Aviation Services (CAS) in Dodoma, Tanzania. But the former MAF engineer still has a heart to be part of the programme’s work to serve isolated communities in the nation.
With a background in teaching Swahili to missionaries, Heri later felt inspired to make the career change to working on MAF aircraft.
Having maintenance services here in Tanzania is better for MAF. Also, if an MAF aircraft gets a puncture while in the remote villages they serve, places that don’t have roads, it would take days to come and fix it.
So, when MAF moved out of its maintenance base in Dodoma, Heri decided the time was right to take over the facility with his own business which continues to work with MAF.
“Having maintenance services here in Tanzania is better for MAF,” he said,
“Also, if an MAF aircraft gets a puncture while in the remote villages they serve, places that don’t have roads, it would take days to come and fix it.”
Heri’s career with MAF started in 1999 as an apprentice for the Tanzania programme. After completing his studies in the USA, he re-joined MAF and worked for 11 years, eventually becoming Chief Engineer.
If you look at the isolated communities where MAF still goes to, their access to the modern world is very limited. They value and appreciate the services brought to them, especially in terms of healthcare. Hospitals are far to reach from the interior.
When Heri started CAS operations in 2015, MAF was his first customer; offering maintenance services to their three Cessna 206 aircraft and progressively, more clients started coming in. Currently, he serves customers from Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar and his hangar is full of aircraft.
“It was a very good opportunity for me not only for the hangar building, which is one portion of it, but also for the whole set up of tools, equipment, and spare parts to start with,” he said.
“My start-up with MAF not only gave me the facilities but also good relationships with different suppliers that were important for the business.”
He grew up in Lushoto, northeast of Tanzania and went for his secondary education in Morogoro, completing his studies in 1997. It was during his teaching that he first met staff from MAF, and their interactions spurred an interest in aviation and a passion for the work of MAF.
“If you look at the isolated communities where MAF still goes to, their access to the modern world is very limited. They value and appreciate the services brought to them, especially in terms of healthcare. Hospitals are far to reach from the interior,” he said.
On starting up his own maintenance company, he added, “Leaving the comfort was the hardest decision. Everyone around me thought I was running mad.
“If you want to do something and your heart tells you to do it and you feel at peace doing it, then go for it.”
Heri is working on starting a mentorship program where he will bring in apprentices from local aviation schools to train and equip them.
“I am motivated by the responses of satisfaction from the customers we serve, and MAF has recognized the importance of CAS’s work on the ground. This is especially evident with aircraft breakdowns that occur in the middle of the isolated villages where they serve, requiring urgent attention,” he said.
In his leisure time, Heri likes visiting national parks, some of which he is familiar with from his time as a language teacher, where he helped with translating for the guests during the trips to the parks.