The collapse of the Zimbabwe aviation industry has left state-owned airline, Air Zimbabwe, buried under the rubble.
A study of how Air Zimbabwe dramatically crashed from the heights of profitability to a perennially loss-making entity by the University of Zimbabwe's department of economic history, reveals the company's long record of corruption, mismanagement and almost criminal waste of public resources.
The airline, now technically insolvent, has of late been hit by a wave of strikes, dismissals of managers, resignations, retrenchments and departures of pilots. As a result South African airlines now dominate 80% of the market on routes on which Air Zimbabwe also plies, showing the local airline's inability to compete.
Air Zimbabwe was established in 1980. The new airline took over from Rhodesia Airways which had been established in 1967 and directly traced its long history back to the formation in 1946 of the Central African Airways.
"Rhodesia Airways operated profitably throughout its existence, with the exception of the 1979 financial year when it registered its first deficit. The airline registered profits despite the numerous formidable economic constraints confronting it as a result of former Rhodesian leader Ian Smith's Unilateral Declaration Independence (UDI) from Britain," the study says.
Rhodesia was put under United Nations (UN) sanctions after UDI in 1965.
"Apart from the fact that Rhodesia Airways was denied access to most regional and international markets, it also had to contend with an acute shortage of aircraft spare parts and aviation fuel because of the UN economic sanctions against Rhodesia," says the study.
With the ending of sanctions and the re-integration of Zimbabwe into the global community of nations in 1980, the conditions appeared to be optimal for Air Zimbabwe to expand its operations and become an even more commercially viable concern than its predecessor.
"Yet soon after independence, Air Zimbabwe was in serious financial trouble and remained so throughout the first decade of independence, except for 1981," the study indicates.
"Air Zimbabwe consistently recorded huge financial deficits and became increasingly dependent on state subsidies to keep it afloat."
The poor performance and deterioration of Air Zimbabwe has been the cause of much national concern and the subject of numerous parliamentary commissions of enquiries.
Recently a parliamentary committee warned that if Finance Minister Tendai Biti goes ahead with plans to freeze state subsidies to Air Zimbabwe the company would further be pushed to the brink of collapse.
"When Air Zimbabwe was established, there was great hope that it would prosper, especially since it was going to operate in a global atmosphere without the restrictions of the economic sanctions that had constrained its predecessor, Rhodesia Airways," the study says.
"In the first few years, Air Zimbabwe expanded its services and replaced old aircraft with newer and more highly efficient, state-of-the-art aeroplanes. By the mid-1980s however, the airline had started to lose money and continued to do so for the rest of the decade, necessitating hefty subsidies from the government. Failure of the airline to operate as a viable commercial enterprise was a result of both internal weaknesses of the administration and restrictive government policies, as well as a generally difficult global economic climate."
At independence in 1980, Air Zimbabwe inherited an almost obsolete fleet of aircraft consisting of 10 Viscounts and three B720s. By 1985, Air Zimbabwe had one of the oldest fleets in Africa. Its 13 aircraft had an average age of 21 years, while the overall African average age was about 14 years.
To improve its operational capacity, the airline purchased modern aircraft, which are more fuel-efficient and cheaper to run. The uneconomical and aged B720s were replaced by five B707s bought from the German airline Lufthansa.
However, despite the favourable economic environment and improved equipment, Air Zimbabwe continued to nose dive to the levels where it is today. The airline is saddled with huge debts, has dilapidated equipment and has become a shell.
"A number of factors contributed to Air Zimbabwe's poor economic performance. Among these were: the ever-escalating price of fuel; the airline's uncompetitive fare structure; over-expansion and the airline's continued operation of some uneconomic routes," the study says.
"The other factors include increasing competition from other airlines following the opening up of Zimbabwean skies to other operators; loss of manpower as experienced and qualified personnel left for greener pastures elsewhere; an unfavourable global and local economic climate characterised by global recession; constant government interference and poor management."
