Kenya Airways begins job cuts in bid to return to profitability

Kenya Airways has began its staff reduction program with 80 jobs set to be affected in the first phase of a redundancy plan that will see 600 employees retrenched as part of its “Operation Pride” turnaround exercise.

The move is as a result a record Ksh25.7 billion (US$251 million) loss for the full-year period ending March 31, 2015, and it is hoped that the initiative will get the Kenyan carrier back to profitability.

“Today, we will commence with the first phase of redundancies which will impact approximately 80 staff members,” said Kenya Airways.

“We are cognizant that this is a difficult period for Kenya Airways and employee assistance will be available for affected staff at the time of the exercise and for two weeks thereafter,” the statement added.

Kenya Airways CEO Mbuvi Ngunze indicated earlier this year that the initiative would result in cost savings of about US$200 million – half of which will come from cost reductions with the remainder through staff and capacity cuts.

Kenya Airways, is one of the larger carriers in Africa, ferrying approximately 10,000 passengers a day with a fleet of Boeing and Embraer jets. The carrier was estimated to have over 3,900 employees in March 2015. The carrier has not indicated when the exercise will end.