Tunisair has just narrowly escaped a seizure of its bank accounts, synonymous with the cessation of its activity. The debt of some twenty million euros, the subject of the dispute, is due to the Turkish company TAV, which manages the airports of Enfidha-Hammamet and Monastir. A rescheduling of rents and fees unpaid to TAV (of which the ADP group is the majority shareholder) has been negotiated by the Minister of Transport Moez Chakchouk. Shortly afterwards, a statement from the same transport ministry published last Monday announced that Olfa Hamdi, CEO of Tunisair, was officially dismissed from his post. One more CEO after those dismissed in July and October 2020.
A very short term for the young CEO dismissed without any explanation
Olfa Hamdi, 35, will only have managed the company for six weeks. Without any experience of air transport, the young woman had more of a profile of high official. After a master’s degree in mechanical sciences and engineering from the École centrale de Lille, she continued her studies in the United States with a higher diploma from the Texas School of Law as well as a master’s degree in the management of major industrial projects from the university. from Texas to Austin. A strictly doctrinaire preparation far removed from the daily crisis management that awaited it in Tunisair. The national company posts a deficit of one billion dinars (310 million euros).
Among the tasks of the CEO was the restructuring of an overstaffed carrier with around 7,800 employees for a theoretical fleet of 28 planes. Tunisair employs 280 people per plane while the global standard is 80. In addition, only six to eight planes are currently operational, according to the ministry. Devices grounded due to the pandemic drop in traffic at least have the advantage of providing spare parts for those in service. This avoids having to rely on a bloodless cash flow to pay for imported supplies in foreign currency.
The dismissal of Olfa Hamdi is not clearly explained by the line ministry, which evokes communication problems and information leaks. In question, the powerful majority union, the General Union of Tunisian Workers (UGTT), opposed to the restructuring which provided for 4,800 layoffs, launched a strike slogan. “If I am here, it is to succeed,” said the young woman when she arrived at the helm of the company. The secretary general of the UGTT then accused Olfa Hamdi of engaging in populism.
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