Staff go-slow causes flight disruptions at JKIA, Wilson

Air traffic controllers Tuesday continued with a go-slow that began at the weekend, causing flight disruptions at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Wilson Airport.

The sporadic disruptions have extended flight clearance waiting times to more than 30 minutes, forcing aircraft to burn a lot of fuel while waiting to take off or land.

The damage is expected to be huge on domestic routes that get particularly busy during the festive season when most people travel for holidays, making it imperative for airlines to keep time.

The disruptions also open a new risk front for airlines, which have lost a lot revenue to the wave of insecurity that has gripped Kenya in recent months and were hoping to claw back some of the losses during the festive season.

Fly540 operations director Nixon Ooko told the Business Daily that the airline’s pilots started reporting take-off and landing delays at JKIA on Sunday and the problem persisted till Tuesday.

On Monday, about six planes were delayed in the morning including those belonging to national carrier Kenya Airways, which confirmed it had suffered similar challenges.

“We asked the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) but they said that the delays were normal and there was no go-slow,” said Mr Ooko even as he reported that their planes were taking up to 30 minutes waiting for signals to take off.

“With these planes the cost of such delays could go up to $1,000 (about Sh90,000) per minute,” he said.

KCAA described the Monday delays as normal, citing the busy morning traffic.

“We have a voyage report where pilots fill in any regulatory issues or air traffic control related issues after a flight and which are handed over to airline safety managers for onward submission to KCAA for investigation. Our office has received no such reports from those who may be complaining of delays,” said KCAA communications manager Mutia Mwandikwa.

He added that senior managers had investigated the alleged go-slow and confirmed that they were simply operational delays.

The controllers are reportedly agitating for allowances across various cadres of employees as well as guarantees for career progression.

Eutychus Waithaka, the chief executive of the Kenya Association of Air Operators (KAAO), an industry lobby group said the air traffic operators had last week presented the authorities with a list of grievances through Kenya Air Traffic Controllers Union – an unregistered union.

“At the weekend, we noticed unusual delays in clearance of aircraft mainly at Wilson,” he said, adding that on Saturday and Sunday, some aircraft were delayed for over 30 minutes. “In some cases, it was just a case of radios not being answered.”

Mr Waithaka said that upon inquiry, KCAA told the operators that the delays were merely operational.

KAAO said it did not know how to handle the situation given the communication it received came from an unregistered union and not the duly recognised Kenya Air Traffic Controllers Association.

The go-slow mirrors another that took place in 2012, causing similar disruptions as the controllers demanded implementation of a Comprehensive Bargaining Agreement they had signed with their employers.

Mombasa, Kisumu, Eldoret and Malindi are currently high traffic destinations as people travel for holiday or to their rural homes for Christmas and New Year festivities.

“It is a very delicate time and such delays are likely to cause a lot of annoyance and unnecessary panic to travellers,” Mr Waithaka said, adding that it is especially dangerous to make planes seeking to land wait more than necessary as they may run out of fuel.

Mr Ooko said that Fly540 planes had not encountered similar delays in Mombasa, Kisumu or Eldoret.

Kenya Aviation and Allied Workers Union secretary-general Bonny Barasa had not responded to our enquiries by the time we went to press.

Disruption of local and international flights is likely to deepen the operational crisis that airlines like Kenya Airways have faced this year and which has caused it a Sh10.5 billion after tax loss in six months.

The airline’s revenues have declined as foreigners shun Kenya and flights to West Africa have been abandoned in the wake of deadly Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

Domestic routes have also become more competitive attracting budget airlines like KQ subsidiary JamboJet, Fly540 and FastJet.

These are, however, operated on minimum expenses meaning that a prolonged disruption of the services could eat into their revenues further.