Govt seeks new ATCL boss as part of recovery strategy

Dar es Salaam.  The government has officially advertised the post for the director general of Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) as it seeks to bring a breath of life into the ailing airline.

This comes hardly two weeks after the government officially sent an order for two Q400 turboprop aircraft worth $62 million from a Canadian multinational aerospace and transportation company, Bombardier. The airplanes to be purchased will be delivered in a single class configuration with 76 seats each.

The Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication officially advertised the airline’s top job on Wednesday as President John Magufuli’s administration seeks to show that it walks the talk in the endeavour to revamp the national airline.

“The new position is in line with the process of revamping the company to enable it provide efficient and effective quality air transport services within the country and beyond,” the ministry’s statements reads in part.

The director general – to be employed on a five-year fixed term contract - is expected to have a Post-graduate Degree in Business Administration or Business Management, or Management Science and a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Science or Aviation Management of Air Transport Management or its equivalent qualifications.

Further, the position requires a minimum of eight years of post qualification experience, five of which must be in senior management.

The ATCL director general will be entrusted with duties and responsibility of providing day to day leadership for the organization and develop the airline’s policies and procedures as well as supervise their implementations.

They will further be required to maintain and promote efficient and effective governance of the company as well as formulate strategy, business plans, and budget and ensure their implementation.

This decision now means that President Magufuli’s administration is serious about finding a lasting solution to the national airline which has been struggling financially for years to the extent that it had to periodically halt operations due to lack of aircraft. 

BACKGROUND: GOVT FORMS EXPERTS’ TEAM TO WORK ON ATCL’S RESTRUCTURING PROCESS

Last month, the government said it had appointed a team of team of experts that will probe and come up with recommendations on the best way to restructure and run ATCL.

The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication, Dr Leonard Chamuriho told The Citizen that the team is told to come up with the nitty-gritty surrounding ATCL and propose ways of managing it, and the aviation sector as a whole, profitably.