Air Namibia And Its Exorbitant Salaries
I HAVE always been critical of the developments at Air Namibia.
I could never understand why it was necessary to hire foreigners as
General Managers who did nothing but run this company into the
ground by purchasing the wrong planes and failing to organise an
efficient service and ensuring that the aircraft was on time.
One of the managers received an exorbitant salary of N$ 150 000
per month and eventually still a golden handshake of a few million
when he left.
All he did for us was purchase planes that cannot make a profit
and thereby create a permanent financial embarrassment to the
company and the Namibian State.
I always stated that a Namibian management team should be able
to do much better and now that a Namibian management team has been
instated, the result is that foreign users of our airline are most
impressed with the extremely cautious and friendly service they are
getting on the plane.
They are also impressed by the fact that the seats leave enough
leg room for the long distance flights to make the flight a
pleasure and they are impressed that the planes are usually on
time.
It seems that the present management has really been successful
in achieving a turn-around in the image of our airline and that is
why I write this letter.
To show them that their efforts are noticed by the customers and
are appreciated by us as citizens.
We can now again be proud of our national airline.
What one would only wish was that a similarly competent
management team is instated at other parastatals such as NamPost,
where we often pay a ten times higher postage for our letters,
which then either never arrive, or even when sent by airmail,
arrive 10 or 14 days late.
Students often do not receive their notification of exam dates
on time and thus miss them.
Shareholders do not receive the notifications of shareholder
meetings and income tax forms are sometimes delayed causing
penalties and irritation.
NamPost also thinks they must hold back letters that were
allegedly stamped too low in foreign countries from which they
originate, having the effect that those letters eventually arrive
on your desk two or three months later.
We need managers in our parastatals that can actually manage and
know what they are doing.
Thousands and thousands of people are prejudiced if our
parastatals do not function properly and merely cost us money.
A Vaatz
Windhoek
Note: Address supplied - Ed.
One of the managers received an exorbitant salary of N$ 150 000 per
month and eventually still a golden handshake of a few million when
he left.All he did for us was purchase planes that cannot make a
profit and thereby create a permanent financial embarrassment to
the company and the Namibian State.I always stated that a Namibian
management team should be able to do much better and now that a
Namibian management team has been instated, the result is that
foreign users of our airline are most impressed with the extremely
cautious and friendly service they are getting on the plane.They
are also impressed by the fact that the seats leave enough leg room
for the long distance flights to make the flight a pleasure and
they are impressed that the planes are usually on time.It seems
that the present management has really been successful in achieving
a turn-around in the image of our airline and that is why I write
this letter.To show them that their efforts are noticed by the
customers and are appreciated by us as citizens.We can now again be
proud of our national airline.What one would only wish was that a
similarly competent management team is instated at other
parastatals such as NamPost, where we often pay a ten times higher
postage for our letters, which then either never arrive, or even
when sent by airmail, arrive 10 or 14 days late.Students often do
not receive their notification of exam dates on time and thus miss
them.Shareholders do not receive the notifications of shareholder
meetings and income tax forms are sometimes delayed causing
penalties and irritation.NamPost also thinks they must hold back
letters that were allegedly stamped too low in foreign countries
from which they originate, having the effect that those letters
eventually arrive on your desk two or three months later.We need
managers in our parastatals that can actually manage and know what
they are doing.Thousands and thousands of people are prejudiced if
our parastatals do not function properly and merely cost us money.A
Vaatz
Windhoek
Note: Address supplied - Ed.