Air Botswana to lay off half its staff
A map of Botswana. The southern African country's carrier owns three aircrafts serving domestic and regional routes. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- The southern African country's carrier has been running at a loss for more than a decade.
- Air Botswana director said only 210 out of their 450 staff members would be retained.
Gaborone
Botswana's national airline has unveiled plans to cut more than half of its staff as part of a restructuring plan that would transfer ground handling operations to a new company.
The southern African country's carrier owns three aircrafts serving domestic and regional routes.
It has been running at a loss for more than a decade, mainly because of high maintenance costs for its planes.
The government has already tried to sell the airline, without success.
RETRENCHMENT
"In terms of the numbers of restructuring ... we have a staff complement of about 450 staff members and the intention is to have about 210 staff members", said Air Botswana director Agnes Khunwana at a media briefing on Tuesday.
The announced retrenchment stems from plans to eliminate the carrier's ground-handling operations, which are to be provided by a private company that has yet to be established.
"In an effort to unlock value and aid profitability, the airline has taken the first step towards unbundling its operations by forming a ground handling company," said Khunwana in a statement before the briefing.
She added that most of the laid off workers would be hired by the new company.
