Sharjah 24 – AFP: A strike by Kenya Airways pilots forced nearly two dozen flight cancellations on Saturday, affecting thousands of passengers, the beleaguered national carrier said.
The airline, part owned by the government and Air France-KLM, is one of the biggest in Africa, connecting multiple countries to Europe and Asia, but it is facing turbulent times, including years of losses.
The Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) said no Kenya Airways flight flown by its members had departed Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from 6:00 am (0300 GMT) onwards on Saturday.
The pilots announced the strike in defiance of a court order against industrial action and gave no indication of how long it will last.
The airline's managing director and CEO, Allan Kilavuka, said 23 flights had been cancelled as of 11:00 am due to "the unlawful strike".
He urged the protesting pilots, who make up 10 percent of the workforce, to return to work by 10:30 am on Sunday.
"Failure to do so will lead to immediate disciplinary action," he warned.
Kenya's newly appointed Transport Minister Kipchumba Murkomen told reporters that the strike was unwarranted and "akin to economic sabotage".
He said around 10,000 passengers had been affected by the strike.
"I am not saying their concerns are not valid," he said, appealing to the "goodwill of the pilots to terminate" what he described as drastic action.
Frustrated passengers described huge queues at the airport, with many only learning their flights were cancelled when they arrived to check in.
The pilots are pressing for the reinstatement of contributions to a provident fund and payment of all salaries stopped during the Covid-19 pandemic.
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