Kenya Airways pilot strike leaves 10,000 passengers stranded at airports, over two dozen flights cancelled

Kenya Airways apologised to pilots for the inconvenience caused because of the pilots' strike and said that it could lead to a lost of around $2.5 million daily, reports Reuters.

Image for representation

Despite the government's requests for them to end their strike, the pilots of Kenya Airways PLC, one of Africa's largest airlines, went on strike on Saturday, cancelling more than two dozen flights and leaving thousands of passengers stranded. Business and vacation travellers will be impacted by the strike, which began at 6 a.m. (0300 GMT), at one of Africa's most significant aviation hubs. The management of the airline, according to the Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA), refused to consider their suggestions for how to address their complaints.

"No KQ (Kenya Airways) aircraft has departed Jomo Kenyatta International Airport flown by a KALPA member from 6 a.m. this morning," the union said in a statement. "The strike is fully in force."Kenya Airways apologised to passengers in a statement and said it would do its best to minimise the inconvenience, which could include rebooking them onto alternative flights. Before the action, the company had called the planned strike unlawful and warned it could jeopardise its recovery from the pandemic, saying it could lose at least 300 million shillings ($2.5 million) daily"

"It is about 10,000 passengers affected so far, and if the situation continues like this, the impact on the other sectors of the economy, tourism, will be severe," the minister said, adding more than two dozen flights had been cancelled so far.

A stranded passenger at the airport in the capital Nairobi, who identified himself as Lawrence, said he had arrived at 5 a.m. to take a flight to Johannesburg in South Africa, but "unfortunately, they've just told me that it's cancelled due to the strike."

Other passengers told Reuters early on Saturday that the previous night was chaotic as people sought to travel before the strike started. Hundreds of passengers who had arrived in transit were trapped inside the airport as their connection flights failed to take off, they said. The pilots union had said it would call a strike over a dispute on pensions contributions and settlement of deferred pay for its members after a 14-day notice had passed without the airline's management addressing their grievances.

With inputs from agencies