Kenya Airways now says the planned pilot strike will be an expensive loss to the airline which is already making million in annual losses.
In a statement on Friday, KQ CEO Allan Kilavuka said the national carrier will lose KES 300 million every day if the pilot strike takes effect.
Kilavuka stated that the airline is willing and ready to engage with KALPA within the confines of their mandate in an open negotiation to find practical and lasting solutions.
“At a minimum, the unlawful industrial action will cost KQ approximately KES 300M a day, translating to KES 2.1Bn in one week,” he said.
He reiterated that the industrial action is unlawful, ill-timed, and unnecessary at this point as it will delay and disrupt the ability of KQ to recover and eventually get the airline back to meeting all its obligations.
“This unfortunate action may affect both our passengers, who may not travel, and our cargo customers, whose exports will be affected. It will greatly inconvenience travelers for business, medical, leisure, and those connecting with their loved ones. This could also lead to huge losses to farmers whose perishable goods are due for export,” he said in a statement.
Kenya Airways pilots under the Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) are set to go on strike from Saturday after the airline failed to address their grievances.
In a statement, the Association’s General Secretary Murithi Nyaga stated that from 6.00am, there shall be no Kenya Airways aircraft departing from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) being flown by a KALPA member.
He indicated that the Kenya Airways management has not made any meaningful attempt to engage them and have the issues they raised addressed.
“We had hoped that the management of the airline would soften its hard stance and engage in a negotiation on the issues raised. However, Kenya Airways management has not made any meaningful attempt to engage and have these issues resolved,” Kalpa CEO Muriithi Nyagah said.
The strike notice followed KQ’s decision to suspend contributions to the provident fund, which pilots claim violate a contractual agreement with all employees.
KQ also urged passengers planning to travel in the next 48 hours to contact the customer care ahead of the planned pilots’ strike.
