Uganda Airlines can fly and soar if it so chooses

The plane took off from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi on the rainy and overcast morning of October 4, 1997.
A few minutes into the flight to Entebbe, the captain announced that we were turning back to Nairobi. We had an emergency in the air. Temperatures were rising fast in the cabin. We were starting to sweat.
We landed safely and waited for hours to get back on the same plane and resume our journey.

The plane, leased from Air Zimbabwe, was a Boeing 737-200. The carrier was Uganda Airlines. Flight mishaps occur all the time, but I think this particular one was yet another sign that Uganda Airlines was on its last flying wings because it folded a few years later.
Now Uganda Airlines is back. We will fly the Crane to and from the Pearl of Africa. But the flying public and all Ugandan taxpayers will need to be assured that the new Uganda Airlines is new in every way possible.

It starts with the management. Horror stories of mismanagement of public entities are many enough. Uganda Airlines should choose to be a positive, even inspiring, story.
The advantage the new national carrier has is that it is literally starting off on a blank slate. The managers, therefore, have the latitude to do as they please, in this case to do really well and make Uganda proud.

Processes, systems, regulations and all manner of guidelines will be established or are being established. No problem. As is common knowledge, you need the right people to make the systems work.
The airline has appointed some people, and it continues to hire more. Merit and competence should not be given lip service. The managers have the chance to create a culture of excellence, which means rewarding performers and punishing laggards through a fair and clear process.
And at all times, the interests of the airline should come first. The managers have to resist turning Uganda Airlines into an arena for patronage. That business of managers saying they were leaned on hard to make stupid decisions by the minister or by the President will not fly with the public. Managers will be expected to say no and if forced quit. Of course, I am assuming that from the board on down, Uganda Airlines will be peopled by employees who are not mere careerists, but by men and women who aspire to be part of something larger.

A successful airline will attract even more talent, and the talent will deliver even better results. The cycle of excellence will continue. We will all be happy because we want to associate with good things.
A rough check of the mood of that part of Uganda that chatters on social media since the first two aircraft in the fleet landed at Entebbe on Tuesday shows a range of attitudes toward the revived airline.
Some are dismissive of the whole thing because it will after all fail under the weight of corruption and mismanagement like many big things this government has done. Others are elated and wish the new carrier well. Others think this is the best thing to have happened to Uganda in a long time — possibly until first oil flows along.

For me, I would never have revived the airline partly because it is a turbulent business. Besides, I don’t think it is a good idea for every little country around to run an airline. (This must have to do with the mentality of every president owning a private jet). The revival of the East African Community should have come with the revival of East African Airways either as a completely new entity or the governments could simply have bought into Kenya Airways and take it on from there. Now every country in the region is competing on building the largest airport and owning an airline whether it makes sense or not.
Because the new Uganda Airlines is now a reality, let me also wish us well. Having failed once, this may be the time to succeed and soar — all the way into middle-income status.

Bernard Tabaire is a media trainer and commentator on public affairs based in Kampala.
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Twitter:@btabaire