Comments on: ZAMBEZI Airline Passengers Stranded

By: Isaac Muke

Isaac Muke — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 06:58:54 +0000

FROM CONCERNED

One can not help but laugh and cry at the same time when reading some comments. Sheer display of ignorance and incensitivity is what I see in most of them.

Try and research before you mouth or put pen to paper.

Like the technology of the aircraft itself, the business is rather complex and rather sensitive to errors and very tied to proper timing in response to situations that arise.

A little hesitation in important decision making can have far reaching ripple effects and it takes time to recover.
Lots of reputable airlines worldwide have gone under and they were no fools.
What Zambians must learn is to support local companies and not pride themselves in being in the forefront to critize unreasonably.

Niyombo investiments must be applauded for trying to offer employment to those highly trained Engineers and Pilots who are the core employees most affected since December 4 1994 when Zambia Airways was unfarely liquidated.

By: kamenga D

kamenga D — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:14:24 +0000

That airline was politicaly formed,thats what greed can do RB the results of pushing zambian airways to close down,my God is fair.

By: Gabriel Chileshe Kunda

Gabriel Chileshe Kunda — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:53:48 +0000

What happened to Zambian Airways is likely to happen to Zambezi. Airlines are a serious business requiring serious minds they are capital demanding and without capitalization airlines close down. You need highly skilled management yo compete favorably in the airline industry!

By: sibz

sibz — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:19:08 +0000

i hv bn an engineer at zambezi en very much undastand wat the problem z,the problem z nt the engineers,nor the series of the fleet,infact poeing 737-500 is nt an old machines,it uses general electrics cfm 56 engines,very economical en powerful. the problem z management problem,most of the tym delays hv bn caused bcoz of nt refueling the aeroplanes on tym,nt hvn fudstaff on the aircraft on tym.the solution z 2 bring in exparts 2 try en help manage the company b4 it dies

By: Ndate

Ndate — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 11:11:28 +0000

Most of you commenting here have only been on a bus to our village,thats why your comments are so shallow,big airlines such as BA,KLM,SAA to mention but a few have all faced similar problems and have had to book people ino hotels as a way of showing duty of care,when are zambians going to stop bluffing.How does one even link this to govt squeezing it’s own citizens businesses.Think through your special paper two in upper primary.It’s just that we might lack modern diagnostic facilities and remedial measures,but the planes you are castigating are being used by companies like SAA.So patience please

By: expert

expert — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 08:56:32 +0000

you pipo hv really surprised me, you are all speaking negatively about the only local airline in our country,we should rally behind it instead of pulling it down. this business has employed close to 400 pipo.wat wud happen to this pipo if its closed down?lets not post selfish comments but see things from a wider perspective. though zambezi has disapointed us here and there, i must say its not easy to run an airline, big airlines such as southafrican airways have also faced challenges that it had to take govt intervation to stablise. Lets have support our local investments.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 08:46:11 +0000

This can happen with any airline. It has happened with British Airways, KLM and many others. But the airline management must act swiftly to reduce the incovenience of their costomers. I think we Zambians should learn to appreciate something that has some semblance of being Zambian and encourage one one another to set up something Zambian. We will never grow if shoot each other down. Those who have travelled several times with the air transport know that this happens time and again..

By: Mungoma

Mungoma — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 08:42:56 +0000

babe-with-attitude, it is not correct to say that Zambezi are using one old plane. The company has been operating three Boeing 737-500 aircraft, which are fairly modern.
Running an airline is a very expensive venture and needs good capitalization. Zambezi leased all their aircraft, I believe, and the rentals for the type of aircraft they operate are not cheap! My suspicion is that the company may not have been making enough money to meet all their costs, including the rentals for the planes, and the lessor may have come calling, grounding the aircraft for default.
Zambezi Airlines is a Zambian company, even if some of its backers might be questionable, and it would be good for Zambians to support it and not throw brick bats at it.

By: shimaini

shimaini — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 08:35:25 +0000

No worries! a national carrier is on its way.

By: kwindi kodjo

kwindi kodjo — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:25:00 +0000

Not long ago one of their flights en route to Cape Town had to make an emergency landing shortly after departing Livingstone after a loss of cabin pressure. To make matters worse, some oxygen masks didn’t even come down as they are supposed to. The oxygen coming through the masks was tainted with fumes that choked passengers. I am shocked that this incident has been kept under wraps for so long. I emailed the post newspaper with details and even photos taken by one of the passengers on this plane but they never informed the public about this. Matata I would have to concur with Big Joe. This airline needs to be shut down. Their delays and cancellations are a norm and the safety of their aircrafts is highly questionable. Their fleet of planes is exactly the same model (737-500) that British Airways in South Africa operates so we can’t really talk about the age of the planes being a problem. Even if they owned 787 dreamliners, the problem with delays and poor maintenance would still exist. Our engineers may be good for the job, but in most likelihood they are under-equipped in terms of modern effective diagnostic equipment. I’m not hallucinating but speaking about things with detailed inside information on this airline.