When Air Sénégal quietly grounded its entire cabin crew on the Dakar-Paris route in mid-September, few outside the airline understood the scale of the problem. The decision, taken on September 17, was not a routine scheduling adjustment. It was the result of mounting suspicions that some crew members had been using their positions to transport parcels for payment—a practice strictly forbidden by the company.

The internal investigation, according to sources within the airline, aims to determine exactly who was involved and how far the operation went. At the heart of the matter is what is commonly called a “GP”—a paid parcel-carrying arrangement where crew accept merchandise for a fee per kilogram. Air Sénégal has not disclosed what was inside those packages, leaving many questions unanswered about the nature of the goods and the potential risks involved.

MyWay steps in: a Georgian crew takes over the route

Since the suspension, the Dakar-Paris service has been operated by flight crew from MyWay, a private Georgian airline, using one of its own aircraft on behalf of Air Sénégal. This stopgap arrangement highlights the depth of the operational disruption—and raises questions about how long the Senegalese carrier can rely on a foreign partner to maintain a key international link.

The incident adds to a growing list of challenges for Air Sénégal. The airline has faced repeated criticism over service quality and is grappling with serious financial difficulties. Several of its aircraft have been seized, and today it is a leased Boeing from MyWay that connects the French and Senegalese capitals. For a company already under pressure, the crew suspension is more than a reputational stumble—it is a stark reminder of the fragile state of its operations.