NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 22 – Kenya Airways (KQ) has announced a new pay structure which will subject all employees to massive pay cuts averaging 58 per cent, in changes set to take effect from April 1.
In a memo addressed to staff, Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka said all KQ workers who will be required on duty, will take a 25 per cent or 50 per cent pay cut subject to their grade, with the rest of the staff who will not be required to report for work expected to take their annual leave.
The CEO will take an 80 per cent pay cut with other top managers set to take at 75 per cent pay cut.
Workers in job group H05 and below will only work for two weeks and proceed on a two-week unpaid break.
Those in job group H06 and above will work for a week and take a three-week unpaid break.
“All employees who will not be required at work will take their annual leave with immediate effect,” the memo read.
Employees under this category are mainly support and technical staff.
These are part of measures put in place to mitigate the effects of corona virus pandemic on the airline’s revenues.
The airline has slashed approximately 65 per cent of its flights and passenger numbers have drastically reduced.
The national carrier suspended various routes amid shutdown as the airline industry grapples with the unprecedented existential threat caused by the novel coronavirus which had claimed 13,000 lives by Saturday and infected more than 300,000 worldwide.
Moses Ndiema, the Secretary General, Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU), Friday indicated the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) received 14 inbound flights against a normal of around 200.
“Of the 14, we only had 800 arriving passengers from an average of 5,000 normally when airport and airlines are functions normally,” he told Citizen Television.
“In the last 24 hours, nine countries in our Africa network, the UAE and India have announced travel restrictions. Our passenger numbers are also reducing exponentially and have greatly impacted our revenues,” KQ noted in its statement.
If the trend continues, KQ said it will be forced to suspend operations altogether.
Consequently, we will have to place 50 percent of our aircraft on long term storage, while the rest will undergo maintenance,” the CEO said indicating that current trend may persist.
Many airlines across the world have take drastic measures to reduce schedules, cancelling flights and grounding feet.
