Kenya Airways has released a statement following a two day strike notice issued by the Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA),the umbrella body of its pilots. The statement in full reads:

"As part of Operation Pride, we announced and gave due notice on 31st March 2016 that there would be a staff rationalization and redeployment exercise. These measures are among the many that we are undertaking and accounts for less than 10% of the overall turnaround plan.

In the intervening period, we have held consultations with all key stakeholders including our two staff representative unions KALPA and KAWU. We have had three meetings so far with each union and have not hit a deadlock. The next meeting with KALPA is scheduled for 28th April 2016.

Though we have not been formally served, we have read from media reports that KALPA has issued a 48 hour strike notice. According to Kenyan Law, such a strike would be illegal, as it is in violation of the required minimum period of seven days’ notice.

We are surprised and consider it the height of insincerity, bad faith and an act of economic sabotage for KALPA to allege to issue a strike notice knowing fully well the current challenging business environment facing the airline and also in light of the ongoing consultations.

We would like to assure our customers and travel trade partners that we are fully operational, and as the national carrier, are committed to serving you with pride."

"Last year we embarked on a turnaround program “Operation Pride” to improve our profitability revisit our operating model and network, and seek a long term sustainable financial structure for our business. In the last few months, we have taken some hard decisions on the aircraft we fly as well as making substantial changes on other aspects of our business. The strategy is fully endorsed by the Board, shareholders and our staff."

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