Airlines, ground handlers in Tanzania cut jobs amid coronavirus outbreak

Dar es Salaam. Ground handling companies and airlines are laying off workers and cutting salaries to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The companies are also sending their workers to unpaid and paid leave as they struggle to cope with the negative impact of coronavirus safety measures.
Industry players are trying to reduce operational costs to keep their businesses afloat as demand dries up following the countries’ air travel restrictions.
Swissport Tanzania which offers cargo and ground handling services to about 25 airlines said yesterday it retrenched between 150 and 200 staff.
The decision has affected Swissport staff at Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) and Kilimanjaro Inter-national Airport (Kia).
“We had to retrench because in any case, with a decrease in business volume, we cannot utilise the entire workforce (1,000 staff) that we have,” Swissport CEO Mrisho Yassin told The Citizen.
 As the pandemic bites, the company is currently operating at between 10 and 30 percent of its normal monthly operation for ground handling and cargo business respectively.
“As it is, we agreed with the trade union that with effect from May 1 we start implementing the pay cut by between 30 and 50 percent to staff who will be on unpaid leave,” said Mr Yassin.
The initiatives aim to maintain cash flow, probably for this month and next month.
“After that we will be out of cash flow, I don’t know what will happen. I am getting worried that every one of us will be sent packing,” said Mr Yassin.
 Nas-Dar Airco, which pro-vides ground handling and cargo services at JNIA, Kia and Dodoma, has retrenched 50 staff, representing 18 percent of its total workforce, according to its head of corporate affairs, Evans Mlelwa. This suggests that the company had about 278 employees before the job cuts.
The company, which handles Fly Dubai, KLM, Rwanda Air, Ethiopian Airlines and Precision Air, has also suspended the internship program of about 50 trainees, some of whom were about to be employed. “Our decision is a reflection of a fall in business volume. We have since January lost 90 per-cent of the business,” noted Mr Mlelwa.
 Precision Air, which has 400 staff, has been forced to cut salaries of its workers by more than 50 per cent, according to its CEO, Patrick Mwanri. The airline has also asked some unspecified number of staff to take unpaid leave.
“The pay cut and the number of colleagues who have been asked to take leave reflect the significant drop in flying,” the Precision Air boss said. According to Mr Mwanri, Precision Air daily operation has dipped from an average of 53 before the pandemic to less than 10 sectors per day. In aviation perspective, the sector is a takeoff from depar-ture destination to landing on arrival destination.
Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL), which employs about 400 people, has sent several staff to a paid leave in an attempt to lower operational costs emanating from allowances and transport costs.
The decision, according to the national carrier’s managing director, Ladislaus Matindi, is a reflection of an 80 percent drop in the airline’s businesses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I can’t tell the number, but what I can say is that the number of staff who have gone on paid leave is proportional to an 80 percent drop in business,” said Mr Matindi.
Citing examples of renovation of offices and upgrading of systems, the ATCL boss said they had to suspend some projects that could wait.
Precision Air and ATCL stopped all of their international flights in March and at the same time when most of foreign airlines decided to stop theirs to Tanzania.