This is despite management saying the airline is now doing well and has reduced its debt load by N$60 million over the last year.

Chairman of the Technical Committee set up by Cabinet to make recommendations on the way forward for the national air carrier, Calle Schlettwein, said yesterday that the committee is receiving mixed messages from information on the company's financial situation.

"Yes, they are doing better than before but the current set-up is pretty unsustainable, if not a disastrous situation.

Drastic interventions are needed to turn it around," he told The Namibian.

Schlettwein added that it will take quite some doing for the airline to actually become a profit-making entity.

He denied, however, that the special committee was involved in instructing Air Namibia's management to halt activities Government charges are "contributing to its poor financial performance".

The airline was sent a letter to this effect by Trade and Industry Minister, Jesaya Nyamu, Chairman of Cabinet's Committee on Economic Development and Parastatals.

The Minister could still not be reached for comment yesterday on what prompted the letter.

Air Namibia's board has told the airline's management to ignore the order and to continue operations as planned, saying Government was interfering and undermining the board's authority.

Nyamu's directive included freezing existing vacancies and the recruitment of consultants without the committee's consent.

Schlettwein could not account for Nyamu's decision.

He said the technical committee, under his leadership, still planned to meet in the next two weeks to peruse recommendations on revamping Air Namibia made by a foreign consultant.

The airline submitted two plans for its restructuring, which the consultant, who played a pivotal role in reworking the operations of Air Mauritius, has broadened.

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