Kenya Airways declares stalemate as pilots strike enters day two

Kenya Airways Plc declared a stalemate in meeting demands from its pilots who stayed away from work for a second day amid a strike by members of the Kenya Airline Pilots Association.

“Because of their hard stance, because they have given us their original proposals without any meaningful concessions, we therefore have a stalemate,” Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka said. 

If the pilots’ strike continues, the unprofitable carrier that is 48.9% state-owned will be unable to meet salary demands this month, Kilavuka said Sunday during a briefing in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Kenya Airways has begun a disciplinary process against the pilots on strike that may include termination of duties after a fair hearing, he said.

KALPA said it’s ready to call off the industrial action once management agrees to resolve the issues raised by pilots. The union called the strike last month seeking better working conditions, including lifting a suspension of payments to the staff provident fund.

In the last three years Kenya’s government has injected more than 60 billion shillings ($494 million) to keep the airline afloat, according to the East African nation’s Ministry of Roads and Transport. Authorities are working on a turnaround plan that includes capitalization of the airline and resumption of its shares trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. 

“The sour and chronic industrial action is an impediment to ongoing efforts to raise capital for Kenya Airways,” Kipchumba Murkomen, Kenya’s roads and transport secretary, said in a statement on Sunday. “The people of Kenya are neither happy nor willing to continue subsidizing Kenya Airways, and we have heard their voices loud and clear.”