A STRIKE by Air Zimbabwe pilots which has grounded the national carrier’s entire fleet entered a second week on Wednesday with no solution in sight.

The state-owned airline has been forced to cancel all domestic, regional and international flights after pilots walked out on Tuesday last week when the government failed to meet financial promises made during an earlier strike in September last year.

On Sunday, the airline said it was leasing one plane to a regional airline which is flying the plane between Harare and Johannesburg on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The pilots say they are owed up to US$9 million by Air Zimbabwe in outstanding allowances and salaries accrued over several years.

Air Zimbabwe board chairman Jonathan Kadzura told state television on Tuesday night that there was still “no agreement” with the pilots.

“Our planes remain grounded and we have been booking some of our passengers on other airlines. Unfortunately, there is currently no agreement with the pilots. We just don’t have the money to pay them and the situation calls for understanding. We continue to negotiate,” he said.

In London, Air Zimbabwe’s general manager for Europe David Mwenga said they were currently refunding passengers whose flights were cancelled.

“We are in the middle of a crisis and there is nothing I would wish more than flying our people home, but as it stands we have an open-ended industrial action. We are doing what we can to refund passengers who bought tickets directly from us while quietly hoping for an end to the strike,” he added.

Air Zimbabwe’s problems have built up over several years. An ageing fleet and delays in switching the airline’s billing policy from the worthless Zimbabwe dollars to United States dollars meant for a long time that passengers were flying almost for free.

Management estimates that the company needs US$800 million to turn the corner.