Air Zimbabwe: Hundreds stranded in China for weeks

OVER 200 Air Zimbabwe passengers have been stranded in China for the past two weeks after the airline’s pilots went on strike demanding unpaid salaries, officials said on Monday.

The pilots have vowed not to return to work until they are given US$200,000 each as full payment of arrears and salaries pending from last year.

Air Zimbabwe, which is struggling with $100 million debts, will be paying the stranded passengers’ hotel bills until it starts servicing the route.

“The situation is that we have not been flying to China for the past two weeks,” Air Zimbabwe acting chief executive officer Innocent Mavhunga said.

“We have been accommodating the passengers in hotels and those who we can re-route we are doing so. The cost varies from one hotel to another.”

The strike has affected some of the airline’s international services besides domestic and regional flights which have also been cancelled.

This is not the first time this year the pilots have downed tools.

They went on strike in January demanding to be paid their outstanding salaries and allowances.

They also embarked on another job boycott on March 22.

Air Zimbabwe grounded again following strike by pilots

A strike by Air Zimbabwe pilots entered its third day on Monday, crippling operations at the national flag carrier.

Pilots walked off the job on Friday after negotiations over salaries and allowances broke down. The airline’s regional manager for the UK and America, David Mwenga told SW Radio Africa he had been advised that as of Monday no agreement had been reached between the pilots, the airline board and management team. Mwenga said that “discussions between the stakeholders are ongoing with a view to get the pilots back to work.”

This is the second time in a month that pilots at the national airline have gone on strike demanding unpaid salaries and allowances for June and July.

The strike has left hundreds of passengers stranded on all its regional and international routes. Air Zimbabwe operates a daily Harare-Johannesburg route, a twice-weekly flight to London and a weekly flight to Beijing as its only international routes. All flights from the capital have been suspended due to the strike while the airline was forced to re-schedule some of its other flights.

The industrial action by the pilots is one of many to hit Air Zimbabwe in the last year alone. Two months ago, the airline was forced to cancel its flights to London and South Africa after fuel suppliers demanded up front cash payments until the carrier settled its debts. Apparently, the carrier owed US$1.6 million to fuel suppliers.

In May, 18 of its flights came to a halt for a week as the aircraft it was leasing from Zambezi Airlines was withdrawn over an unpaid US$460 000 debt. It is believed the national airline is crippled with more than US$100 million of debt, some of it accrued from a nearly month long strike between March 22 and April 20.