Tunisair (TU, Tunis) could be cut loose from the national fiscus after an investigation by a Tunisian inter-ministerial committee into the airline's operations revealed that no previously agreed-to measures, required to turn around the loss making carrier, had been implemented. The measures, which included significant staff cuts, debt write-offs and subsidies for domestic routes, were a key condition to a total TND200million (USD119.52million) bailout accorded the airline at the beginning of the year. Africa manager newswire says the Ministry of Finance has placed a large degree of blame on the airline's labour policies. On its amalgamation into a single holding entity in 2011, the Tunisian national carrier was forced to absorb over 800 employees from its previous subsidiaries resulting in a bloated workforce of 8'500. To make matters worse, salaries were then aligned with those of the parent company thereby adding to its payroll. In spite of its ambitious route development plan which would have seen heavy emphasis placed on developing new sub-Saharan routes to Libreville Leon M'Ba, Brazzaville, Pointe Noire, Cotonou Cadjehoun, Lagos, Conakry, Banjul, Niamey, Kinshasa N'Djili and Luanda 4 De Fevereiro, the Tunisian airline says it has struggled to regain consumer confidence since the events of the Arab Spring with its tourist traffic in particular, slow to recover. A national institution for over 65 years, Tunisair has often been accused of uncompetitive practices, most notably by private rival Syphax Airlines (Sfax), with the airline's all-powerful unions having even vetoed government decisions.