Whither Air Zimbabwe?

felt he was a bit too blunt, only to have it confirmed two days later when I experienced the inconvenience of relying on a totally unreliable airline.
I had to quickly muster enough courage to fly in a nine-seater plane to Victoria Falls, something I had not imagined doing anytime soon, after it emerged that Air Zimbabwe had completely departed from its long lost tradition of caring and had suspended flying.
The smaller planes have never been my cup of tea because I just don’t like the turbulence. I was a bit on the edge for the first 20 minutes, wondering why I could not have opted to go by road.
At that juncture I felt I did not mind the long distance between Harare and Vic Falls by road because it seemed a much safer option than being in the air with a small plane that could have easily taken us to a completely different destination altogether had it succumbed to the winds and turbulence of the skies.
My right to choose the size or type of a plane that I was more comfortable to fly with were taken away by Air Zimbabwe. Whatever happened to Zimbabwe Express Airlines or Fly Kumba?
However, I soon felt comfortable as the clearly well-experienced pilot took care of his machinery with the aplomb of a veteran.
Of course, we experienced bumps here and there but I kept confessing Isaiah 41:10 which says do not fear for I am with you . . . and I felt safe to the point of even taking a 15-minute nap during the one hour and 50 minutes journey. God is awesome. The circus at Air Zimbabwe has long ceased to be funny and discussions over the state of affairs have dragged on and on with seemingly no sustainable solution in sight.
Air Zimbabwe has maintained a near monopoly over the years, particularly on the domestic routes but it has failed to capitalise on this. On regional routes, the airline’s feat of stops and starts have seen it lose the Harare-Johannesburg and Johannesburg-Victoria Falls routes to South African Airways and British Airways.
Presently the airline plays second fiddle for flights to and from Zimbabwe when it is supposed to outclass its rivals by virtue of being the national carrier.
How do you even attempt to outdo a competitor when the business is headed southwards instead of the stratosphere?
Why have we expended more energy on tabulating the airline’s problems and yet possible solutions have not been adopted or have just completely fallen by the wayside?
How many more volumes and versions of the problems at Air Zimbabwe should be written before decisive action is taken. Definitely the hiring and firing of chief executives is by no means a decisive action because the next one inherits a system that has not worked and will, therefore, not produce results for as long as they are not given enough room and support to apply their knowledge skills.
Should Air Zimbabwe be placed under curatorship or judicial management?
Should it be completely disbanded so it can start afresh?
Its suspension from the International Air Transit Association (AITA) has become the order of the day.
Once in a while the ailing airline is suspended from IATA only to be rescued a few days later, a process that goes on and on periodically. But Government does not seem to have the money to rescue it from the suspension and other challenges but money will need to be found somehow.
The airline’s seemingly workable deal with Zambezi Airways was recently suspended due to a US$460 000 debt.
Early this week the Secretary for Transport Mr Partson Mbiriri said efforts to beef its fleet with two Airbuses have been suspended to deal with operational problems first.
I thought the absence of reliable and adequate fleet was an operational challenge which could be addresses by the purchase of these two planes.
Maybe the long and short of it is that Airzim does not have money to purchase the new planes, in which case a financier is wanted urgently.
Such strategy as trimming staff and reorganising the managerial structure should certainly precede any cash injection if the airline is to get back on track.
So much has been said about its blotted staff which currently stands at triple its requirements of about 500 people for its size.
The airline business is generally supposed to be a lucrative venture but the happenings at Airzim makes us think otherwise. Government and the Airzim board, with the involvement of other stakeholders, need to actively pursue avenues to restore its viability.
The national airline symbolises national pride and a national heritage that should not be left to die.
A national carrier is critical in any country’s economy, but it also becomes costly when its not functioning well as has become the case with Air Zimbabwe.
The inconvenience of a malfunctioning air line as business executives and tourists fail to fulfil appointments, catch connecting flights or are forced to reschedule travel arrangements is the last thing that Zimbabwe’s travel and tourism industry wants to be known for.
Airzim needs to become reliable. This sounds taboo given Airzim’s recent history but it can be done. One thing we pride ourselves in as a country is its safety record over the years, but we would rather have this maintained in the air and not when the planes are grounded.
Of course, it has since been established that even at full capacity, Air Zimbabwe cannot adequately service domestic, regional and international routes so the need for more open skies cannot be overemphasised.
Zimbabwe has adopted an Open Skies policy that has not been as open as it should be. Licensing more airlines to operate to and from this country could somehow help camouflage the problems at Airzim while solutions are being pursued. Zimbabwe anticipates to host at least five million tourists annually by 2015.
This can only happen if the country has a reliable airline. Transport plays a critical role in the tourism sector.
The local tourism industry has not hidden its displeasure over the current state of affairs at AirZim
Hiccups are common with almost all airlines the world over but those at Airzim have the magnitude of almost choking it. It would be refreshing one day soon to have a reliable airline that will always be on time, where flight cancellations would not be part of its routine.
Airzim, with its high technical skills in the form of its pilot and engineers, has the potential to become viable once again and carry the Zimbabwe flag high up the skies.
IMF appointment
Been following closely developments at the International Monetary Fund following the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Of course, no Zimbabwean name has been mentioned to succeed him, with the likes of France Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, Mexico central bank Governor Agustin Carstens, Belgium Finance Minister’s Didier Reynders topping the list.
The closest we have gone is the possible nomination of South Africa’s ex-Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.
Many would want the next IMF boss to come from a developing country while others insist it should be a European with experience to deal with the current financial crisis in that region that seems to spark off again each time it appears to be receding.
Naturally Zimbabwe would vote for someone who is closer to home and is bound to emphathise with our challenges. IMF says it will not assist Zimbabwe until it pays up but we hope it becomes a more practical institution that will not be bound by blinkered regulations.
Economic developments, particularly after the global financial crisis, demand flexible institutions that can quickly move in to assist trouble spots.
We have seen IMF do that in Greece and other European countries. We want to experience such injections closer to home.
Zimbabwe is still struggling to liquidate the SDRs we got from the Bretton Woods institution two years ago but we hope a more user-friendly IMF will emerge as the institution begins a new era once a substantive chief is appointed.
We will be watching with keen interest to see who emerges the winner.
In God I trust!
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