Kenya Airways plane.
A strike called by Kenya Airways pilots has failed to materialise.
A spot-check by the BBC at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport showed that it was business as usual.
The pilots, through the Kenya Association of Pilots, had issued a 14-day strike notice which expired on Wednesday.
But an airline official told the BBC that “things are very normal” at the airline and no pilots had downed their tools.
A Nairobi-based travel agency confirmed that no Kenya Airways flights had been cancelled or delayed across the country’s major airports.
Pilots’ union officials remained silent on Thursday and are yet to respond to queries on the status of the planned strike.
The pilots are demanding that the national airline reinstates contributions to their retirement fund, and further accuse airline management of breaching the collective-bargaining agreement.
A senior pilot who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity said the management of Kenya Airways had failed to engage them meaningfully over the last two years.
Kenya Airways chairperson Michael Joseph in a statement on Wednesday said all bargaining agreements “must align with the need to restructure the airline operations towards profitability”.
The airline had suspended pension contributions in 2020 due to Covid.
The loss-making carrier also reduced salaries of staff, among them pilots, but has since reinstated full salaries and says it is in the process of paying the arrears.
The management maintains that the airline cannot afford to meet the demands of the pilots until mid-2023.
-BBC
