Kenya's Aviation in Trouble as Airlines' Crew, Ground Staff Join Pilots Strike

Andrew Thomas / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Kenya Airways planes at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in 2009 (file photo).
5 November 2022
Capital FM (Nairobi)
By Sharon Resian Nakola

Nairobi Kenya — Kenya's aviation sector was in more trouble Saturday after airlines' crew and ground staff embarked on a strike, joining pilots who are pressing for better pay and working condiotions.

The workers' strike notice was called by the Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) which ordered its members from the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to down tools.

"Pursuant to the court order, this is to instruct and advise all unionisable employees of KAA to commence the strike today 5th November in compliance with the court order," KAWU Secretary General Moss Ndiema.

He said the strike will only be called off once KAA satisfies all terms specified in their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

KAWU and Kenya Airports Authority have had a long-standing pay-related disagreement resulting in multiple disruptions in aviation operations in major airlines including Kenya Airways.

And the KAWU members strike is rubbing salt to injury, after pilots of Kenya Airways grounded flights to demand better pay and working conditions.

More than 10,000 passengers were stranded as Kenya Airways pilots went on strike to demand better pay and working conditions.

The strike called by the Kenya Airlines Pilots Association (KALPA) started on Saturday, grounding more than 15 flights.

Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has termed the strike as "illegal" an act of "economic sabotage."

"I visited the JKIA and was saddened to learn that so far, over 15 flights have been canceled and 10,000 passengers stranded," he said after visiting Kenya's main airport, the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) where he met the airline officials.

"I have been briefed by the Kenya Airways management that they working with other airlines to reroute some of the connecting passengers even as we seek a lasting solution to the challenge at hand," Murkomen said.

The airline, partly owned by the government and Air France-KLM, is one of the biggest in Africa, connecting multiple countries to Europe and Asia, but it is facing turbulent times, including years of losses.

The Kenya Airlines Pilots Association (KALPA) said that no Kenya Airways flight flown by its members had departed Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport starting from 6:00 am (0300 GMT) on Saturday.

"The strike is fully in force," KALPA union secretary general Murithi Nyagah said in a statement released on Saturday.

The pilots announced the strike in defiance of a court order against the industrial action and have given no indication of how long it will last.

Read the original article on Capital FM.

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