Zimbabwe's state-owned airline has laid off 200 workers,roughly half of its staff,with immediate effect.
the
job losses are part of a turn around strategy to bring struggling air
zimbabwe back to profitability from a $300m[230m pounds] debt.
Last month the eu banned it from using its airspace,citing safety concerns.
There
have been major changes at the national airline since president robert
mugabe's son-in law took over as chief operating officer last year.
'Struggling to keep afloat'
''We
were overstaffed by a lot and we are also trying to weed out people
without the right qualifications'',the airline's chairwoman chipo dyanda
said on wednesday"
''The retrenchment is meant to give space to the airline so that can redeploy the money saved back into the company.
An
air zimbabwe spokesperson told state media that management has also
been trimmed from 28 to 12 and the finance department from 36 to 17.
The
airline has struggled to keep afloat over the last decade and plans to
carry out a restructuring exercise that will include retraining for all
staff,including top management.
Unconfirmed reports say that a name
change is also in the pipeline-a move many people is an attempt to
ring-fence the airline's debt and reduce the threat of creditors seizing
the planes.
The bbc's shingai nyoka in harare says that president
mugabe is a frequent flier on the airline,often leasing out the largest
plane for state visits and private medical visits to the far east.
in
may,president mugabe said that zimbabwe was the most-highly developed
country in africa after south africa,he denied that the country was in a
fragile state.
zimbabwe has been struggling to pay its civil
servants recently and is ranked 24th on the undp's human development
index for africa.
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