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There is a silver lining for cash crunched Kenya Airways, the Pride of Africa, as some of its passenger fleets are turned into cargo to haul critical medical supplies, foodstuffs, and other essential goods.
“Some of our grounded passenger planes will complement the work of our cargo freighters in this way,” said Kenya Airways on Sunday.
On Sunday, the Kenyan carrier said it used one of its Dreamliner, KQ 2764, to take medical goods and essential items from Nairobi to Johannesburg. KQ Cargo operates a fleet of two B737-300 freighters.
“As we do things differently, we know that it is critical for essential goods to be transported,” said the airline.
The airline temporarily suspended all international services on March 25 with the exception of its cargo planes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have been forced to reduce our network by over 70% and it had become increasingly difficult to continue offering international passenger services,” Kenya Airways CEO Allan Kilavuka said in a memo.
Besides taking an 80% pay cut and that of the senior management including board members reduced by 75%, they have made a cash bailout request from the Kenyan government to keep the company afloat for the next six months.
According to Bloomberg, it will cost the airline about $5 million a month to manage its grounded fleet and retain the workforce.
In addition, it has suspended its domestic flights after the government extended a ban on international flights and imposed a Nairobi-metropolitan area lockdown for 21 days.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says KQ risks 137,965 jobs and $1.1 billion in contribution to Kenya’s economy.
For the rest of the grounded fleets, Kilavuka said they are doing mandatory maintenance just like other global airlines.
We are doing exactly the same and so are most other airlines. Thanks David.
— Allan Kilavuka (@Kilavuka) April 12, 2020
