Kingfisher pilot rejoin Air Botswana

Kasane: Three pilots that once left Air Botswana for greener pastures abroad have rejoined the airline, says the airline general manager Mr Lance Brodgen.
At least three of our former pilot colleagues are back in the fold and we are hoping that more will follow in the near future, Mr Brodgen said in an interview.
Mr Brodgen said the return of the three pilots followed Air Botswanas adjustment to remuneration packages of captains with around 30 per cent.
He said the adjustment was done after looking at the current remuneration in the international and regional markets.
One of the returnee pilots, Mr Sam Bokole, who was with Kingfisher Airlines in India said the salary adjustments contributed to his return.
But they are paying us way below what I earned in India but at least they tried, he said, adding that the recent adjustment was not what they agreed upon.
At the end of the day they have to improve the status of the planes they are using and aim higher, he said.
Adjustment to remuneration packages was carefully calculated and necessary to retain and attract the appropriate pilots, Mr Brodgen added.
Mr Brodgen said Air Botswana was now offering its pilots a more equitable package, adding that in the previous financial year, Air Botswana recorded a seven per cent profit with operating margin of 10 per cent. He said the the airline focused on improving reliability and punctuality, adding that engineers also dedicated their efforts to enhance technical reliability.
Through technical reliability, the heavy costs associated with leasing third party aircraft and putting up passengers on hotels was brought down under control. We also looked at our pricing mix to ensure that pricing model was better aligned with basic economic and commercial practices, he said.
Air Botswana flies about 500 and 800 customers daily 70 per cent of them being regional traffic.
03/06/08 Republic of Botswana, Botswana