Air Zimbabwe's deafening silence is pissing me off even more!

I am genuinely pissed off with Air Zimbabwe over this.

I have been one of the people publicly defending the return of the direct Harare–London service. 

I welcomed it. I celebrated it. I took plenty of flak from people who told me I was being overly optimistic about an airline whose reputation has been battered for years.

I still stood by Air Zimbabwe because I genuinely wanted this route to succeed. I wanted Zimbabwe to have its own direct air bridge to the UK again. 

I wanted to see our national airline rebuild its reputation and regain the confidence of travellers.
And then this happens.

This picture is now doing the rounds showing UM724 to London-Gatwick as "Cancelled." Some online publications are reporting a cancellation. Others are saying the flight was delayed.
And Air Zimbabwe's deafening silence is pissing me off even more! 

I have not seen an official statement from Air Zimbabwe explaining what happened, so I will happily add that caveat.
But that silence is precisely the problem.

When your airline has spent years trying to rebuild public confidence, you cannot afford to leave a vacuum for the gossip mill to fill.

Already there are all sorts of stories circulating, including one that the aircraft was diverted to China to pick up the son of a senior government official. Frankly, that sounds so far-fetched that I wouldn't touch it without evidence. 

But this is what happens when an organisation fails to communicate, rumour becomes news, WhatsApp becomes an information service and speculation becomes "fact."
And the damage is done.

I am being tagged all over social media with this photograph and the inevitable……
"I told you so. These people will never change."
Do you know how bloody frustrating that is when I was one of the people saying, give them a chance?

Air Zimbabwe's return to London was a milestone I wanted to see succeed. I defended it precisely because I wanted it to succeed.

But supporting Air Zimbabwe does not mean giving it a free pass.
If UM724 was cancelled, tell us why.
If it was delayed, tell us why.
If there was an operational problem, tell us.

Passengers deserve an explanation, and those of us who have publicly backed this project deserve some communication too.

Nxaaa!