HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Pilots from Zimbabwe's debt-ridden state airline resumed flying Thursday, ending a monthlong strike over pay and allowances.
The pilots reported for duty after reaching "an amicable agreement" with Air Zimbabwe managers and the transport ministry, chief executive Innocent Mavhunga said. He refused to give details of the deal.
The airline's 49 pilots were demanding $4 million in unpaid salaries and allowances. They grounded the airline March 22 in the second strike in the past six months.
Chartered carriers were hired to fly domestic and regional routes. Long haul flights to London and Asia were abandoned.
Striking pilots complained to a panel of lawmakers last week that poor salaries made them unable to meet their family and financial commitments and that their financial worries led to stresses that impaired their abilities at the controls, putting passenger safety at risk.
Senior captains at the airline earn just $2,600 a month, well below salaries of their regional counterparts.
The airline also failed to pay most crew allowances over the past two years that include school fees for their children and other benefits.
Pilots called on the airline to replace its aging fleet that could become a safety risk and accused executives of not honoring their contracts and heading up "dishonest and poor management" of all the airline's operations.
The last strike in September cost the airline an $3.5 million in lost business.
Striking pilots have twice been called up for what the airline described as "national duty" to fly President Robert Mugabe, 87, to Singapore where he received medical treatment.
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