Kenya Airways pilots to strike from Saturday

The Kenya Airways pilots are planning to strike from Saturday to demand better working conditions, despite a court ruling suspending their strike notice, their union said on Friday.

Kenya Airways, owned by the Kenyan state and Dutch company KLM, is one of Africa's largest airlines with many routes to Europe and Asia. However, it is currently going through a difficult period and is surviving only on state aid.

The Kenya Pilots' Association (Kalpa) said that several meetings with management had not led to any progress.

As a result, no Kenya Airways flights will depart from Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from Saturday 06:00 (03:00 GMT), said the union's secretary-general, Captain Murithi Nyaga. Kenya is the economic powerhouse of the region and a major tourist destination on the continent.

"The management has left us with no other option," he said, pointing out that a 14-day notice period had expired without a solution being found.

The Kenya Airways pilots, who have a tense relationship with management, are demanding the restoration of contributions to a provident fund and the payment of salaries during the Covid pandemic.

For its part, Kenya Airways said the industrial action would jeopardise the company's recovery, saying the pilots' demands did not merit a strike.

On Monday, a court ruling suspended the strike notice, but the pilots maintained the strike.