Kenya: Pilots' strike grounded Kenya Airways planes

Kenya Airways pilots gather at the Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) office, during the Kenya Airways pilots' strike, organized by KALPA, near Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport November 5, 2022. REUTERS - THOMAS MUKOYA

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

Kenya Airways pilots have been on strike since Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m. Nairobi time.

The airline's flights have been interrupted, grounding thousands of travelers, which worries Kenya Airways, which for several years has been facing heavy losses despite aid from the Kenyan state.

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Nairobi,

The company, owned by the State and the Air France-KLM group, is suffering the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and rising fuel prices.

The pilots are asking for the restoration of their pre-Covid-19 salary conditions.

Their main union called for a strike on Friday, November 4, after 14 days' notice.

Despite a court ban, the protest movement was widely followed by nearly 400 pilots.

The call center is overwhelmed… and you could see today, in front of Nairobi International Airport, long queues of travelers stuck on the ground.

More than 9,000 passengers and 6,000 tonnes of cargo are affected by the strike, the airline's CEO, Allan Kilavuka, announced in the morning. 

The pilots' union assures that they will return to work as soon as an agreement has been reached with Kenya Airways.

Among their demands are: the resumption of the company's contribution to their pension funds, suspended at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic;

the payment of unpaid wages throughout this period and the resignation, neither more nor less, of the management that they accuse of not being attentive.

Kenya Airways chose the threat as an answer.

Its CEO considers the strike “ 

 ” and gives the pilots until tomorrow morning, Sunday, to resume work, under penalty of “ 

 »

The Kenyan Minister of Transport speaks of “ 

 ”.

The airline assesses its losses at 2 million 500,000 dollars per day of strike.

This movement is therefore "counterproductive" according to the minister who calls on the pilots to negotiate to put an end to it.

Five hours of discussions have already failed on Friday.

The Kenya Aviation Workers' Association, a union representing airport workers, also called a strike on Saturday.

These workers accuse airport authorities of failing to implement an agreement reached in 2019 which was to guarantee them salary increases. 

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

• Kenya