Kenya Airways strike: Airlines identifies 132 pilots for disciplinary action

NAIROBI— Kenya Airways has accused 132 pilots affiliated to Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) for hiding behind the Collective Bargaining Agreement clause to participate in the strike.

This comes as the airline plans to institute disciplinary action against pilots engaging in the strike which Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka says is an unlawful industrial action.

“So far, we have 132 pilots registered with our operations teams as unfit to fly. This is part of the CBA that allows pilots a 48hr window not to provide any evidence of being unfit to fly. What it means is that they could be protecting themselves against disciplinary action,” warned Kilavuka.

According to Kilavuka, only 23 pilots have been available for duty as KQ moves ahead with recruitment of new pilots though the airline has been forced to cancel 47 flights.

“The disciplinary process is ongoing for the pilots who haven’t reported on duty as per their rosters. And We have begun the recruitment process of Captains and First officers,” said Kilavuka in a statement.

The airline says it is also seeking contempt of court proceedings against the KALPA executive committee, jointly and severally, for breaching the Court Order for taking part in the unlawful industrial action.

KALPA has however accused the CEO and the airline for its high-handedness in handling the dispute despite the association willing to negotiate to end the stalemate.

“The Management’s ego and chest-thumping is to the detriment of Kenyans at large. The persistent harassment and intimidation towards pilots agitating for their rights serves more to agonize than inspire confidence that management is concerned about their welfare. This adversarial approach will not achieve our common goal of getting KQ back to full operation,” said Murithi Nyagah, KALPA Secretary General.

Murithi further says refusal by he airline management to engage in dialogue contravenes the spirit of negotiation of a return-to-work formula and is in bad taste.

KALPA commenced its strike on Nov 5 after a two-week strike notice it issued the airline on Oct 19 elapsed over the failure by the flag carrier to honour CBA signed previously.

Subsequently, the airline said as a result of the strike, it would lose Ksh 2.1 billion weekly as flights remain disrupted.

“KQ CEO continues to peddle the daily loss amounts our airline incurs daily, yet our contractual pension (Provident Fund) costs the company only Ksh 60 million a month for all 3,800 KQ staff, yet, inexplicably, he is willing to let the company lose Ksh 300 million a day,” added Murithi.

As the strike enters day 3, Kilavuka says the airline has restored 20pc of daily flights and will operate 18 flights out of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) carrying over 2,000 passengers as of 2PM Monday.

Additionally, KQ has reduced the number of disrupted passengers to around 9,000 from 12,000 working with its subsidiary Jambojet.

“We still have about 500 passengers accommodated in various hotels in Nairobi. Some of our guests who

were to depart to multiple destinations are still waiting for their connections,” added Kilavuka.

Kenya Airways had also uplifted 25 tonnes of cargo by Monday afternoon.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK