Kenya Airways (KQ) has issued a job advertisement for pilots as a crippling strike by its own employees enters its third day.
“Kenya Airways has invited applications for positions of Captains and First officers,” the advert posted on the carrier’s LinkedIn page says.
This comes on the heels of a crippling pilot strike that began on Saturday morning. More than 10,000 passengers were stranded, and operations at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) were disrupted.
It also comes just hours after the airline’s management announced disciplinary action against the strikers, claiming the action was illegal and accusing them of failing to report for duty.
“The action by pilots has occasioned immeasurable inconvenience to guests, a huge financial cost to the company and, by extension, the larger national economy, therefore, this is being treated as defiance of instruction issued by the CEO,” a memo by Chief People Officer Tom Shivo said.
The Kenya Airline Pilots Association (Kalpa) declared a strike last week, citing protracted disagreements between the union and KQ management.
The pilots also claimed that KQ unilaterally ceased both employee and employer contributions in 2020 and has not resumed them since.
The pilots also charged KQ’s management with continuing to violate Kenya Civil Aviation Regulations and certain clauses in their CBA.
