Flight delays at Kenya’s main international airport on Monday affected thousands of travellers as airport workers’ go-slow strike action continued into its second day, with the main union saying negotiations were continuing.
The Kenya Aviation Workers’ Union (Kawu) said the strike at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was due to a range of grievances, including the inability to conclude a collective bargaining agreement with the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and lack of co-operation from the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) and Kenya Airways subsidiary Jambojet.
KAA on Sunday said some flights were experiencing delays without disclosing reasons for the delays. It did not respond to a request for comment on Monday. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and Jambojet did not respond to requests for comment.
Rwanda’s national carrier RwandAir said in an X post on Sunday it had cancelled two flights as a result of what it said were air traffic control challenges at the airport in Nairobi.
Passengers told Reuters they had spent hours at the airport waiting for news about their flights.
“When I got here, the flight was delayed until 1am. It was a 90-minute delay, and then there was another delay until 4.30am. At about 3am I went to the check-in. They told me the flight’s been cancelled,” said rabbi Mendel Goldman, who is travelling to a wedding in Florida in the US.
“The earliest flight they can get us is only tomorrow night so we’ve got to wait,” Goldman said on Monday. “We’re going to try to make most of it, but I’ve been here for 12 hours waiting in the airport.”
Kawu secretary general Moss Ndiema said the union and government officials met on Sunday to try to resolve issues but without success.
He said in comments broadcast on KTN Television on Sunday: “We have agreed to proceed with engagements tomorrow from 11am. In the meantime, the strike action is still on.”
Reuters
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