HARARE, April 24(Xinhuanet)-- The Air Zimbabwe has started to restructure the loss-making parastatal as part of its turnaround program, a local newspaper the Sunday Mail reported.

The axe will soon be falling on some under-performing employees while an audit of the airlines operations has already started.

The audit, which is being carried out with the assistance of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, seeks to assess the needs of the parastatal as well as gearing it for a strategic partnership with some European and Asian airlines.

The national carrier is reported to have already struck a partnership deal with South African Airways(SAA).

SAA chief executive Khaya Ngula was recently in Zimbabwe to hold talks with the Air Zimbabwe management.

The report said the restructuring exercise, which will see the national airline unbundling into strategic business units,"has progressed smoothly and is now moving to a stage where we should have the right people in the right jobs."

A human resources audit has been going on since the beginning of the year and management has identified the areas which need attention and these are going to be addressed as a matter of urgency, said the report.

With such exercises some employees will have to be relieved of their duties and additional skilled staff recruited.

The national airline has been dogged by allegations of incompetence and a high wage bill. Enditem