Kenya’s national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) has a rolled out a new pay structure for her pilots in a new cost-cutting move meant to keep the airline alive.
KQ CEO Allan Kilavuka said that the airline is working in having a sit down with the pilots about the new pay structure.
In the new plan, KQ will pay the pilots based on the number of flights he or she accumulates in a month.
“We are looking at an arrangement where we pay pilots as they fly,” Kilavuka told Business Daily.
“Where do we get cash to pay pilots if planes are grounded?” posed Kilavuka adding that the airline is also considering reviewing its aircraft leasing terms and selling some of its assets in order to break even during these hard economic times.
Even with ‘pay per trip’ model for pilots KQ has earlier communicated its intent to lay off sizeable number of pilots from the current 414 to 207.
KQ is currently operating at 26% with most of its routes now being in Europe though on a reduced travel basis.
In its justification to lay off half of its pilot workforce, KQ said that nearly 50% of KQ’s payroll goes to paying pilots.
Once the lay offs are effected, KQ will save up to Ksh3.24 billion for the next three years.
The new pay plan comes as direct flights to New York resume on Saturday, October 31.
There will only be two weekly flights to New York from Nairobi in Kenya Airways’ direct flight which is set to resume on October 29.
The KQ direct flight was launched in October 2018.
For the last six months, KQ’s direct flights to John F Kennedy Airport (JFK) in New York remained grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Factors considered when mooting the idea for a direct flight between these two counties were the number of US passengers coming into Kenya for business and tourism.
Kenya Airways was the first East African country to launch a direct flight to the US.
