(3 minutes read)
· Staff members of Tunisair, the national airlines of Tunisia recently protested against the freezing of the company’s financial assets by a Turkish firm
· The Turkish company –TAV-froze the assets because the Turkish airlines is a debtor to the company and owed to it millions of dollars
· The airline has a large number of staff, higher in proportion to number of aircraft the airline operates
· Presently, the state is extending subsides to keep the airline artificially alive
Staff members of Tunisair, the national airlines of Tunisia recently protested against the freezing of the company’s financial assets by a Turkish firm. The Turkish company –TAV-froze the assets because the Turkish airlines is a debtor to the company and owed to it millions of dollars.
The protest was called by the Tunisair union, and supported by the powerful UGTT union. Several hundred employees of the national airline protested against this decision in front of the Tunisair headquarters in Tunis. Tunisair can hark back a history of over 70 years.
The trade union leaders complained that the management was consciously trying to destroy the air carrier and its assets. The airline has a large number of staff, higher in proportion to the number of aircraft the airline operates. Presently, the state is extending subsidies to keep the airline artificially alive. After the protests, the Tunisian Transport minister said that freezing of accounts was lifted and the state representatives would start negotiations with the staff union and the Turkish company –TAV- to find a solution to the debt problem.
The cash strapped airline was bleeding for quite some time. Tunisian government and the foreign lenders were insisting about the need for restructuring the airlines, particularly for cutting the flab and wasteful expenditure. Aviation sector, across the world, has been debilitated due to the pandemic. Many airlines have pulled down shutters including from frica. www.trendsnaftica.com has reported about the closure of Namibian airlines a few days ago. Perhaps barring Ethiopia Airlines, the rest of the aviation companies are facing severe financial crunch in the continent. Earlier, our portal has carried a number of stories about South African Airlines and the liquidation process around that.
