AT least 80 Kenya Airways pilots are jobless after the
airline grounded its Boeing 777 aircrafts with an intention to sell some, their union said yesterday.
The airline whose international code is KQ announced yesterday the sale of two of its Boeing 777-200 ER planes to American charter airline Omni Air International.
The deal which the airline said was approved by the board is likely to further strain its already bad relationship with the Kenya Airline Pilots Association which accused the management of being clueless in steering the business back to profitability.
The airline which made a half-year loss of Sh10.45 billion for the period ending September 2015 said the sale of the two aircrafts is part of an effort to rationalise its fleet as part of its turnaround strategy.
"They do not know what they are doing. They are getting rid of the 777s soon it will be Dreamliners as well because the grand plan is to make KQ a regional airline," Kalpa secretary general Ronald Karauri claimed yesterday.
KQ's communication manager Wanjiru Mugo had not responded to our email request for comment by last evening.
The airline which prior to the sale had four Boeing 777-200 and three 777-300 as at end of its financial half year has reportedly not been using the B777-300 either.
This, Kalpa said, has rendered 40 captains and an almost equal number of pilots jobless over the last few months with no clear direction on their redeployment.
According to KQ, the sold planes were delivered new from Boeing between 2004 and 2007. They were operated on its long haul scheduled routes especially to
Asia and Europe.
The Boeing 777s have the largest passenger capacity within the entire KQ fleet which consisted of 48 aircrafts by end of the first year.
Kalpa said grounding of the B777s will hamper KQ's recovery plans since it will give more edge to KLM on long haul flights. KLM, Kalpa said, manages to fill its Boeing 747 aircraft on the Nairobi-Amsterdam route as KQ struggles. The B747 aircraft has a slightly higher capacity of 467 passengers compared to the 777-200 and 777-300 which can carry approximately 322 and 400 people.
