Maputo — The Minister of Transport, Mateus Magala, claims that Mozambique Airlines (LAM) is still in the readaptation phase, following a malfunction that prevented one of the company's aircraft from taking off from the western city of Tete, as well as a recent postponement of a direct flight from Maputo to Lisbon.
In April, the government placed LAM under the management of the South African company Fly Modern Ark (FMA), which is responsible for bringing the company into profitability, and rescuing it from bankruptcy.
Magala, who as speaking at the opening ceremony of the Southern Africa Climate Outlook Forum, acknowledged that LAM has problems, including frequent aircraft breakdowns, delays and rescheduling of flights
"It would be better to rescue the company than let it die', he said. "We have never had the illusion that our company is healthy. We never had that, but we decided to treat the sick. We always opt for optimism and I think optimism should be the general rule of our people. We come from much diversity and many challenges, but without optimism we can't fulfill our potential. We have to believe in ourselves', the Minister said.
Regarding the breakdowns of the company's airplanes, Magala said that the ideal solution would be to renew the fleet, but there is no money to buy these aircraft.
"If we had the financial conditions, which we hope to have one day, we could renew the fleet and equip our services more. We have more qualified staff. It doesn't matter if we have money and infrastructure if our human capacity falls short of modernization. These are factors that we have to combine. We will learn. We are resilient', Magala said.
Under the FMA administration, the company resumed direct flights from Maputo to Lisbon, after an interruption of 12 years. It has also acquired its first Boeing 737-300 freighter, in order to meet the demand for the transportation of goods.
According to Magala, there is a need to acquire more experience to manage the machinery that the company has been trying to introduce.
"There will be more to come because it's a new experience after 10 years without us flying. We don't have pilots who know how to fly the Boeing 777. So we're in the process of giving them the opportunity to learn because aviation is science, not curiosity. Curiosity is important, but science is fundamental', he said.
The pilots, he said, are being trained "and it will take them six months to adapt to the new machine, then we'll have a Mozambican crew.'
