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of the national airline ended yesterday following Government intervention.
Sources close to the matter revealed yesterday that Government agreed to pay the pilots about 67 percent of what they were owed. It is not clear over what period they would be paid the money.
The pilots downed tools at the beginning of this month demanding payment of salary and allowance arrears dating back to February last year.
Representatives of the pilots reportedly met officials from the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development and hammered a deal that will see operations resuming today.
The deal is reported not to have gone down well with the board of directors, which had taken a hardline stance against the pilots.
The board chairman Mr Jonathan Kadzura had reportedly threatened to resign yesterday.
Contacted for comment Mr Kadzura, denied that he had resigned. “I am not aware of that, I am still the chairman,” he said.
Acting Air Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Mr Innocent Mavhunga, confirmed that an agreement had been reached with the pilots.
“I can confirm that an agreement has been amicably reached through the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development,” he said.
Mr Mavhunga could, however, not shed light on the nature of the deal.
“For confidentiality purposes, we cannot disclose the contents of the agreement lest we be accused of negotiating in bad faith,” he said.
However, sources within the workers’ representatives said Government had agreed to release about US$4 million towards the payment of the salary arrears.
It is not clear if the deal also includes other critical staff such as flight attendants and engineers.
Transport, Communication and Infrastructural Development Minister Nicholas Goche referred questions to his permanent secretary Mr Partson Mbiriri, who was not available for comment.
Another source, however, said the latest development might not augur well with other employees like engineers should their arrears not be paid.
There were fears also that even if the pilots return to work there might not be enough money for operations since the planes have been grounded for over a month.
Recently, the Government had to bail out the cash-strapped national airline with US$400 000 after some of its workers attached property to recover salary arrears amounting to US$378 000.
Last year the pilots downed tools on two occasions over the arrears.
Air Zimbabwe has been facing acute financial challenges due to a downturn in business caused by declining volumes of passengers and an ageing fleet. The airline is saddled with a US$100 million debt.
This has resulted in a reduction on the number of routes serviced from 25 to seven.
Two weeks ago the pilots told the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communication that Air Zimbabwe would return to viability if it bought new aircraft that met modern standards.
The pilots recommended that the three Boeing 737-200 be phased out and replaced with Boeing 737-700NG.
Air Zimbabwe has, however, said it has already begun gradually phasing out the old planes.
The company has already leased on a long-term contract a B737-500 from Air Zambezi of Zambia.
The pilots said the current Air Zimbabwe fleet was old and expensive to run.
The pilots also proposed that Air Zimbabwe should enter into an agreement with LAC from DRC to service its domestic and international routes to improve viability.
They argued that the company was overstaffed with a ratio of 280 workers for a single plane instead of 1:80 as per industry standards.