Pilot strike spurs Kenya Airways to cancel 80% of flights

Kenya Airways Plc canceled about 80% of normal flights out of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi on Monday with a pilots strike in its third day, disrupting travel plans for thousands of passengers and hurting intra-Africa trade. 

“We have restored 20% of the network of our daily operations,” Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka said in a statement. “We have reduced the number of disrupted passengers to around 9,000 from 12,000 yesterday by working with our partner airlines.” 

The company is still accommodating 500 passengers in hotels in the capital, Kilavuka he said. 

A prolonged strike may also hit Kenyan exports. Sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest airline transports an average of 150 tons of fresh produce daily -- including flowers, which are among Kenya’s top exports -- to Europe and the Middle East. It ships 20 tons of vital pharmaceutical products into East Africa’s top economy.

The Kenya Airline Pilots Association issued a 14-day strike notice on Oct. 19. The group is pursuing better working conditions, including lifting a suspension of payments to the staff provident fund. Kenya Airways, which is 48.9% state-owned, normally transports more than 250,000 passengers a month and an average of 60 to 70 flights daily.

About 23 pilots reported for duty on Monday. Another 132 have registered with the operations team as unfit to fly, giving them a 48-hour period during which they don’t have to provide proof of sickness, Kilavuka said.  

The pilots union submitted a revised proposal to Kenya Airways and the concerned government ministries with further concessions on Monday, it said in a statement.