Tanzania: Fastjet in trouble over flights

Dar es Salaam. Fastjet’s frequent flight cancellations could land it in trouble, with the regulator yesterday saying it was considering unspecified measures against the airline.

Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) director general Hamza Johari said they were concerned about the situation and would be acting to protect the interest of passengers.

“The authority is taking enforcement actions against Fastjet including protection of the interests of those affected,” Mr Johari told The Citizen over the phone yesterday.

However, the TCAA boss was not ready to give further information about the kind of actions he had in mind.

“Tomorrow (today) I will provide further information about the matter,” he said. On Wednesday, Fastjet cancelled its Dar es Salaam-Mwanza evening flight, affecting more than 100 passengers who were forced to spend the night in the town.

There was more trouble yesterday morning as some 26 passengers who had waited for 10 hours to travel with the morning flight were also left behind as the 126 capacity plane was full.

However, Ms Lucy Mbogoro the airline’s regional public relations and marketing executive said the 26 were expected to travel by the evening flight.

Frustrated passengers meanwhile criticized the airline in the manner in which they were treating passengers during the cancellations. They said Fastjet which had primed as the leading airline in meeting its targets on scheduled flights has recently backslide, with cancellations becoming regular.

“The airline should improve its customer care services especially during such disruptions…..some of which are abrupt and not announced earlier,” one of the stranded passengers wrote on social media.

There were angry scenes at the Julius Nyerere International Airport yesterday when the 26 of the passengers who had waited overnight again failed to get space in the morning flight.

“Imagine you wake up early at midnight to catch up the flight at the airport, and when you are preparing to board the plane, someone just announces that the plane is full or the flight has been cancelled, this is not acceptable” another passenger lamented. He said the staff were also not courteous enough when approached.

Responding to the complaints over the phone yesterday, Ms Mbogoro explained that the problem only occurred because their aircraft experienced technical issues on Wednesday.

“We apologise to our esteemed customers for the inconvenience suffered yesterday and today,” Ms Mbogoro said, noting that it is routine to inform passengers via email when cancellations occur ahead of departure. Yesterday’s overbooking was not intended, she suggested.

“We also try to accommodate passengers in other available airlines but it was unfortunate there was none on the route on the affected schedules,” she said.

Later Ms Mbogoro said Fastjet will offer one free ticket to those passengers who failed to fly out yesterday morning. “They can use the free tickets to fly on our plane in the next trip.”

Ms Mbogoro also dismissed reports on social media suggesting that the airline only had enough money to fly till Friday.

Fastjet is currently undergoing some restructuring to make it a fully locally owned airline. Former minister Laurence Masha was recently named executive chairman of Fastjet Tanzania board as one of the moves to delink from its mother company, Fastjet PLC of UK.

Mr Masha has since raised his stake in the airline from 4 to 68 per cent, a critical decision that means he could now reshape what route the airline takes. He was reportedly shopping for other strategic investors to buy off the remaining shares from the UK partner who has expressed interest of pulling out of Tanzania over reported mounting operational loses.

The airline has since cut the number of flights and routes in order to remain afloat as the new plan takes shape.