Kenya Airways crew: Kenya Airways is emerging as one of the hardest hit businesses by the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, it emerged that the national carrier has been forced to ground some of its cargo planes due to a shortage of flight staff.
This is because 283 cabin crew are in mandatory quarantine over fears that they may have contracted the coronavirus during the course of their work. The quarantine is costing the national carrier Sh. 80 million in occupancy bills.
This comes a few weeks after the KQ pilot who flew last flight from New York succumbed to coronavirus. According to a report that appeared in the Business Daily, Kenya Airways is now failing to match demand for cargo business at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi due to lack of crew to operate the planes.
“The issue right now is how we do as many cargo flights as possible to help us supplement our income. But it will be difficult if we cannot get our crew out of quarantine,” KQ chief executive officer Allan Kilavuka said. “We still have 283 in the hotels as at today and it has cost us close to Sh. 80 million. This is money we should have used for operation and sustainability”.
Kenya suspended international flights in March following public uproar.