In difficulty, the airline Tunisair, owned 75% by the state, has to face impatient creditors and worried employees.
We must save the Tunisair soldier. This, in a nutshell, is the mission assigned to Olfa Hamdi. The new boss of the airline has arrived in the midst of a slump: with a deficit of more than 300 million euros in 2019, barely a dozen aircrafts out of the 28 available to the company and a pandemic that has weakened the global aviation sector, the CEO has her work cut out for her.
Olfa Hamdi was probably far from knowing what to expect. This Friday, February 19, the Tunisian could only see the damage: TAV Tunisia, the subsidiary of the Turkish group TAV Airports which manages the airports of Enfidha-Hammamet and Monastir, claimed her due from Tunisair. 20 million euros unpaid.
The day before, the Tunisian branch of TAV had announced, despite ongoing negotiations, the seizure of 8 million euros on the account of the airline company, under "partial recovery" of the total debt. The Minister of Transport had to meet the representatives of the Turkish group to discuss a spreading of the debt. An agreement was finally found in the afternoon.
The threat of a strike bends the government
And as if that were not enough, the Tunisian General Union of Labor (UGTT), the first Tunisian union, entered the dance with the announcement of a strike. A movement that would have totally paralyzed the Tunisian air sky if it had been maintained. Distraught, Tunisair employees wanted to alert the state to the urgent need to reform the airline.
With a 70% drop in revenue in 2020, the business is sinking year after year. The UGTT asks the government for an urgent rescue plan. The seizure made by TAV Tunisie on Tunisiair's accounts did not help reassure Gazelle employees. With its abysmal deficit, Tunisair is struggling to pay its salaries. The employees of Tunisair Catering, a subsidiary of the company, are still awaiting their emoluments for the month of January.
UGTT spokesperson Ghassen Ksibi finally called for a return to work. According to the union, an agreement has been reached with the government and a meeting will be held between the government and the UGTT. On the menu of the meeting, an update on the situation of the airline company and its debts. Discussions, but no solution. Tunisair is gradually heading towards a large-scale crash.