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saw him steadily rise up the ranks at Ethiopian Airlines, taking him on flights around the world and developing him in his career in the aviation industry. But his position was first on terra firma at the airport in Cargo, followed by Space Control and Revenue Management. Next came a series of transfers to various overseas stations, among them Nigeria, Greece and Germany before making the full circle to the Cargo department back home as Vice President. “From Vice President of Ethiopian Airlines Cargo, I became MD of Passenger Services and then MD of International Services that covers Tokyo to Toronto, Seoul to Sau Paulo, Bangkok to Bamako, and just about everywhere else in between. “So the whole planet reports to me as far as Ethiopian Airlines is concerned,” Hailu says matter-of-factly, he who sits at the helm of what is arguably Africa’s most successful national flag carrier that celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, a significant milestone for any entity by any standards. He cites a dedicated workforce, good customer care and a visionary management team as key factors that have contributed to the airline’s staying power. It comes to light that no other airline in Africa - or for that matter, in the entire world - has as much history as Ethiopian, as the airline is increasingly being referred to. To better appreciate the success of Ethiopian Airlines, it is necessary to consider the prevailing geopolitical climate in Africa when the airline first took to the sky. At this point, Hailu ‘transmogrifies’ into a professor of history. “When we started to traverse the African sky in 1945, our commercial tagline was “Bringing Africa Together” because the only viable way to fly from one part of Africa to another was via either Paris or London,” he explains. “There was no connectivity in Africa. The continent did not have national carriers because it was colonised by Britain, Belgium, France, Portugal or Spain.” “However, because Ethiopia has been Ethiopia for millennia, the country took it upon itself as a civic responsibility to the continent to develop an airline that could claim the African sky for Africa. We fulfilled this duty to our continent by building the largest African network in the entire history of aviation by any airline, by any standard - European, American or the Gulf nearby.” Hailu is understandably proud of this achievement because even before the Partition of Africa that at once regulated and furthered the despoliation of the continent between 1881 and 1914, the colonisation and plundering of Africa by European powers had been monstrously vicious. And except for the brief invasion by Mussolini’s fascist forces that lasted seven months to May 1936, Ethiopia stands out as the only country that never came under the yoke of a European power. While Liberia may lay claim to a similar status, it quivers in the attempt because the land that constitutes the West African country was bought by the American Colonisation Society for settling freed slaves and free-born African-Americans in the early 1800s. At present, Ethiopian Airlines has more than 55 destinations across the continent. It is well placed to spread its wings further under a strategic vision of linking Africa with the rest of the world. This is being promoted through the airline’s new tagline of “The New Spirit of Africa.” To that end, Hailu declares himself eager to dispel any remaining misconceptions about Africa. “After being perceived as a place of conflict, famine and misery, Africa has all the potential now,” he says. “We’re helping people to see Africa in the new light; to see what Africa represents in terms of investment opportunities, history, culture, wildlife and so on.” As the clock ticks towards the end of our allotted 10 minutes, at precisely 9 minutes and 11 seconds, it becomes as clear as the open sky that this man’s sense of duty is almost ineffable. “Aviation is very exciting,” he says with the enthusiasm of one who never tires of his job. “While it is admittedly very glamorous because there is never a dull moment, the dynamics keep changing all the time. And so focus is of the essence. Aviation connects massive numbers of people and huge amounts goods. Think of it this way: where you need 3 000 kilometres of railways, you can have only three kilometres of runway and connect people, goods and services.” 18 www.inbusiness.co.bw | Issue 12 | 2017
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