Kenya Airways (KQ) CEO Allan Kivaluka and chairman Michael Joseph have refused to resign as demanded by pilots, deepening the woes facing the national carrier.
This comes moments after the High Court stopped the Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) from going on strike, who are demanding that the two resign due to mismanagement.
“They have called for Allan [the CEO] and myself to resign and the board to step down but there is no clear justification for this other than a general statement about mismanagement and poor decisions without any details,” said Mr Joseph in a letter to staff Monday.
“The board and I believe our shareholders have absolute confidence in Allan and his management team. No amount of threats or coercions will compel us to ask for any resignation from anyone, and certainly, I have no intentions of stepping down unless the KQ board, following due process, requests my resignation,” he said.
Read: Inside The Turbulent Recovery Of Kenya Airways
KALPA had planned to go on strike over several issues including mismanagement, failure by the management to implement pay agreements (CBA), alleged victimisation of its members and non-payment of monthly pension contributions for staff.
KQ needs at least Ksh1.3 billion for pension expenses every year, with approximately Ksh700 million being scheduled for pilots.
“As you know, we continue to pay back the deferred salaries and expect to start paying back the contributions to the provident fund in 2023. Unfortunately, we cannot do both at the same time as we are still paying back our outstanding arrears from the Covid period and keeping up lease payments on our aircraft,” said Mr Joseph.
KQ has recorded a Ksh9.88 billion loss for the first half of the year, which was less than the loss of Ksh11.48 billion it posted for the same period in 2021.
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