As an intrepid traveller and a conscientious citizen, I am constrained to comment on matters that touch on Kenya Airways. Kenya’s national carrier has borne the brunt of adverse commentary in both social and mainstream media. The former is uniformed chatter whilst the latter is a slant that tries to pass itself off as responsible journalism. Sample this!

A social media post, purportedly written by a Ghanaian passenger on a KQ flight from Cape Town to Nairobi, leaves much to be desired. Whilst the KQ plane indeed developed a malfunction that caused it to return to Cape Town twice, it is the embellishments with which the Ghanaian serves his falsehoods that invite a response.

First, he unjustifiably labels the KQ Boeing 737-300 plane a “a flying death trap.” Next, he exaggerates noises apparently emanating from the plane describing them as “prolonged bodily rattles.” He then casts aspersions on the competence of the pilot, disparaging his decision to turn back as delivered in a “quivering voice.”

This post has since been repudiated by other passengers. Isaac Awondo who was on the same flight says, “This is a gross exaggeration of the facts that played out during the flight.” He adds that “the talked about rattle did not happen and most importantly, the pilot was very professional and advised on the technical challenges as he twice safely took the flight back to Cape Town.’

Another report, this time carried by mainstream media, says, “Kenya Airways flight bound for Dubai forced to return to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.” The report fails to mention that out of an abundance of caution, a decision was made to recall the flight after debris on the runway punctured one of the plane’s inner tires. The debris came off a plane from another airline.

The latest incident involves yet another KQ plane, this time, to Kigali. A statement from the airline says, “KQ 478, on a scheduled operation from Nairobi to Kigali, encountered deteriorating weather on the normal approach to land at Kigali International Airport.” The statement further says, “After two unsuccessful attempts to land, the crew elected to return to Nairobi for the safety of passengers and crew on board.”

Kenya Airways concludes CBA negotiations with employees

A mainstream media report on the same incident says, “Another KQ flight forced back to JKIA amid reports of pilots go-slow.” Anyone reading between the lines would make the wrong inference in attributing KQ’s aborted flights to pilot industrial action. Yet a statement from Rwandair corroborates that of KQ saying, “Due to poor visibility as a result of heavy fog at Kigali International Airport, we are expecting flight delays to/from Kigali.”

Gleaning from sources in the public domain, the following facts are obtained: First, Kenya Airways has an impeccable safety record. It would never risk the lives of passengers and crew. Boeing Analytx awarded KQ the best airline globally in terms of safety, reliability and utilization of the Boeing 737 aircraft for August this year, rolling back three months.

Second, KQ pilots are competent. Most of them have over seven thousand flying hours of experience. They are highly trained to handle emergencies, if ever they arise, and work with engineers to determine the safety and airworthiness of a plane. That said, whenever flights are turned back, passengers and crew are never in any imminent danger.

Third, it is a fact that there have been supply chain constraints for aircraft components. It is a global problem affecting most international carriers including KQ. However, the national carrier has ameliorated this challenge by entering into an agreement with Lufthansa Technik for total component support. So far, this arrangement has minimized the delays in aircraft returning to service from scheduled maintenance.

This is barring the occasional hitch when service is at its peak on account of high season demands. It has been noted that KQ would rather ground its planes than fly them without proper maintenance checks. It has been demonstrated repeatedly this year that safety is paramount at the organization.

In conclusion, the hitches at KQ are normal operational challenges. They are definitely not a case of Murphy’s law in operation. Nothing on the KQ side that could go wrong has gone wrong. I believe that Kenyans of goodwill must debunk the mainstream media’s classical conditioning that associates Kenya Airways with failure.

It is a shame that it falls on other publications like Simple Flying and CH Aviation to report the great happenings at the national carrier. Where is our patriotism? How can it be left to foreigners to appreciate Kenya’s truly international company? Something is truly amiss when we rush to trump our supposed failures instead of successes. Something is horribly wrong! Really!