KQ commences disciplinary action against striking pilots

Kenya Airways has commenced disciplinary action against striking pilots.

The national carrier CEO Allan Kilavuki regretted the defiance by the pilots stating that if the strike continues the airline will not be able to pay salaries this month.

“If the pilots’ strike continues, we will be unable to meet salary demands this month. So it is in their interest to come back to work… the more you stay out, the more we are bleeding and will be unable to meet your demands” Kilavuki said during a press conference Sunday afternoon.

He said it was unfortunate that pilots rostered for the Sunday shift never showed up for work despite a call to resume work.

He said they were open for talks but on condition, the Kenya Pilots Association calls off the strike. The pilots have vowed to continue with the strike until their demands are met.

“We have a stalemate and it leaves us no alternative but to continue with a disciplinary process. We are still open to meaningful talks but the most important thing is that these talks need to be held under the condition that they return to work” he said.

They are pushing the employer to restart contributions to its staff pension fund which was stopped during the pandemic and the payment of all salaries that were accrued at the time.

Quantifying the strike losses, the KQ boss said Saturday midnight, 56 flight cancellations had been reported while 12,000 passengers were disrupted 500 of whom have been accommodated in Nairobi hotels.

Kenya being a trading hub, the industrial action has also negatively affected intra-Africa trade with cargo division incurring huge losses.

“We have not been able to carry any fresh produce to Middle East and Europe since yesterday on average we carry 150 tonnes, we have also not been able to bring into the country some pharmaceuticals about 20 tonnes on average per day,” he said.

The airline has resumed operations on select routes “today we were able to move three flights, We are happy to see that we were able to fly some flights” he added,

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