Who says so ? The FAA have banned Air Zimbabwe from the USA not because of sanctions but because they have "assessed the Government of Zimbabwe’s Civil Aviation Authority as not being in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards for oversight of Zimbabwe’s air carrier operations."

The IOSA certification is a box ticking exercise for all airlines who want to be in IATA.

I didn't state that Air Zimbabwe were unsafe however I haven't seen a report from a COMPETENT source saying they are safe. Due to the situation doubts are quite rightly raised, serious financial difficulties, ageing aircraft, lack of key personnel. Are the holes in the cheese starting to line up ?

What are his qualifications in aviation safety management ? His expertise lies in crushing opposition to his government and enlarging his personal wealth at his countrys expense. Would he know if an airworthiness directive had been complied with ? Would you like to tell him he couldn't fly because a part was time expired ?

I would rather fly on a well maintained new machine flown by a pro, I don't want to be the one who discovers the problems when the total time gets too high.

The "pros" you speak of left during the 1980/1990s and are well dispersed world wide. Lots in Cathay. I can't comment on what's left but the Zimbabwe licence isn't much use these days, I don't even put it on my CV anymore.

Show me a report from a competent source saying they are safe and I would fly on them.

""I would rather fly a well maintained old machine flown by a pro, than one straight from the box flown by idiots (Air New Zealand, and all American airlines)"

You poor soul- I guess you have never been to Zim or flown on one of their "well maintained machines".

I know many air zim pilots and personally there are only 4 that i would fly with- however I know quite a few ANZ pilots with whom I would fly any day, properly trained, not pilots because of political ties and inabilities to pass exams, but hard study.

The stories of their maintenance leaves a lot to be desired purely because of lack of qualified personnel.

IOSA certification sounds grand but what is it actually worth? In persoanl experience, it's a paperwork excercise, I mean both Nationwide and Airlink had/have IOSA certificates and look at their records

Whatever individuals think Air Zimbabwe crews have managed to maintain a pretty good safety record considering the conditions they have been working under. I respect them for this as I would not like to have worked under some of the pressures they have found themselves in. The question will be as always how long will they be able to keep things going.

Since Rhodesia became Zimbabwe (1980), and the company was renamed Air Zimbabwe, they have not had a fatal accident. They are one of the few flag carriers to be able to make such a claim in that time period.

Whether this is due to skill, luck, or something else, it is certainly a statistic worth noting.

JT

Little Mo
Well if you think IOSA is just a paperwork exercise than you don’t know much about it.
Being an IOSA Airline does not mean that your civil aviation is up to speed. It means that your airline is.
Air Zimbabwe is on the register
As to Nationwide and Airlink, that’s a whole other story to be told with regards to the SACAA jumping the gun.
I would fly Air Zimbabwe any day.

21 years ago I flew Air Zimbabwe from Harare to Gatwick in a hushkitted 707.A very smooth journey operated by a crew with a professional attitude.

Irrelevant to the experience today of course but seems,from some posters' experiences, that not much has changed. ( Flight did leave at advertised time though)

'IOSA a ticking box excercise' - don't be daft. :=

The airline I worked for spent a huge amount of money and time to become IOSA accredited.

Air Zim were a fantastic airline to fly on, and by all accounts for, before the whole country went to the dogs. If they are indeed IOSA certified then it is because they met and complied with some of the most stringent safety regs currently in place. IOSA can pull this certification if they deem it is necessary and one would think that they are watching closely.