Quirky web chat with Air Zimbabwe

I read a report this morning on Airline Industry Review that Air Zimbabwe has sacked all its pilots. Apparently all 40 of the airline's pilots went on strike, so Air Zimbabwe sacked the lot of them.

Photo credit: Deanster1983 (Flickr Creative Commons)

After posting a quick tweet about this surreal story on my AfricanSkies Twitter account, I decided to delve a little deeper.

I went onto Air Zimbabwe's website and got a prompt, asking if I'd like to have a live MSN-style chat with one of their reservations agents. Well, I thought, why not? 

Here's what happened next...(the last line is priceless)

Air Zimbabwe: Welcome to Air Zimbabwe Reservations!
 You: Hi there. I've heard a report that Air Zimbabwe has just sacked all its pilots. Is that true?
 Air Zimbabwe: Welcome to Air Zimbabwe Reservations!
 Air Zimbabwe: You are now chatting with "James". Yes, our pilot are on indefinite strike.
 You: They're on strike, or they've all been sacked?
 Air Zimbabwe: They are still on Strike....
 You: Are you flying?
 You: Is Air Zimbabwe still operating?
 Air Zimbabwe: No we are not operating at the moment.
 You: When will services resume?
 Air Zimbabwe: No updated at the moment. You can keep checking with us.
 You: Okay - thanks for your help.
 Air Zimbabwe: Thanks for choosing Air Zimbabwe as your travel partner.