It’s been 5 years that I am in the airline business. Being honest, it does not really matter if Kenyan Airways is selling more than Ethiopian or Air Zimbabwe more than British Airways, at the end of the day it’s a business like any other. What matters for most is the prices, getting cheap flights and saving money. Also, an important factor is the reputation of the airline and your safety concerns.

In this regard, there are some huge "un justifications" done to Air Zimbabwe for a long time, people have associated rumors, ill repute and incidents with the airline that never actually occurred in history! Some "so-called reliable" sources (big names in media) have published stories not even close to reality…after court trials the publishers reportedly apologized from the airline yet; the irony of the situation is that the false news and reports continued to spread (as it’s a more spicy story to tell), starting with "Did Not" missing the "NOT" on their way from ear to ear, turning to "MAY-BE" and ending with "EXACTLY"…leaving the truth far behind.

There are many occasions when I have been asked "is it safe to fly with Air Zimbabwe"? …OR …"I have heard they will be grounded? Will I get my money back?" some times the questions are hilarious yet, the people are really serious asking them such as "Who are the pilots, are they well trained?" of course, one should be concerned about their safety, but why all the "SAFETY" and "SECURITY" questions are always raised about one particular airline? Aren’t we discriminating …? YES, but why? How real are the rumors about Air Zimbabwe?

Firstly, let’s take "The Chicago tribune", published in June 1999, by a respectable American newspaper in the travel section, under the headline ‘Choppy Skies: A White knuckle Flight on Air Zimbabwe.’ As the headline, the story is interesting, fearsome and hilarious at the same time. No doubt it got popular in seconds. Here is the summary: "The freelance reporter Gaby Plattner claimed that she had flown on Air Zimbabwe from Kariba to Hwange and flight departed without a co-pilot, who failed to arrive for unexplained reasons. She also claimed that during the flight the pilot went to the toilets holding cockpit the door open with a rubber band. She claims they encountered turbulence and the rubber band snapped loose and the cockpit door swung shut locking out the pilot. She claimed that the pilot had to use an axe to chop down the door down! "

• Reality or Fabrication? Answer is Fabrication

  It turned out the entire story was pure fabrication based on a decades old "urban legend". For about two months the Chicago Tribune refused to publish a retraction, supporting their report until they were presented with a printed copy of an older version of the urban legend. The reporter finally admitted nothing like that has happened on Air Zimbabwe flight and the story was told to her by a fellow traveler. she Says:

  I very stupidly wrote Choppy Skies as though it had happened to me, when actually it was a story a passenger told me. I don’t know what made me write it in the first person, except that I guess I thought it would be a more vivid story that way.

  Both Gaby Plattner (reporter) and The Chicago tribune wrote letters apologizing to Air Zimbabwe and published a retraction.

Secondly on the list is the CNN story claiming that Air Zimbabwe had a 12 in 100 chance of being involved in a fatal accident, thus, characterizing is as "the most dangerous carrier in the world".

• Calculation or Miscalculation? Answer is Miscalculations

  To the contrary, statistics actually show that Air Zimbabwe is one of the safest airlines in the world. Since the end of the 1970s guerilla war for Zimbabwe’s liberation, Air Zimbabwe has never had a fatal accident in its entire history.

To this day, numerous web sites including the American military continue to quote the original Chicago Tribune story as if it was true and the CNN calculations are often referred. There is still very little told or published about the facts as they are and not the fabrications. Very recently, two of the top 5 star alliance airlines had flight cancellations, strikes and unwarned rescheduling! The point is, generalizing without bothering to separate the fabrications from the facts, is not only causing some cost effective airlines to loose business but also customers are paying more on expensive flights. Also, Air Zimbabwe offers the cheapest flights to Harare and flies from 17 destinations in the world that means a great deal to Zimbabweans. For more on cheap flights to Harare visit