Transport CS James Macharia blames JKIA crisis on KAA staff

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia has blamed the disruption of operations at JKIA that happened early Wednesday morning on 30 Kenya Airport Authority staff.

The CS reassured the public that the ministry has resolved the issues that had led to the disruption and that operations at the airport will resume.

“I am pleased to announce that the issues that we had at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport that resulted in the disruption of operations this morning have been resolved and we expect that the first flight to take off in the next hour or so. The disruption was caused by about 30 KAA  workers who engaged in illegal activities within JKIA’s compound aimed at sabotaging the airports operations,” said Macharia.

The CS thanked the management at KAA, KQ and workers for their support in maintaining order at the airport.

“The overwhelming majority of KAA workers are still at work and I thank them for their continued support in helping us to minimize the disruption caused by a few rogue elements,” he said.

I would like to commend the management teams of the Kenya Airports Authority and KQ, the relevant security agencies, for taking quick decisive action to ensure that normal operations resume as soon as possible. #JKIA pic.twitter.com/Wxaf5prDRG

— CS James Macharia, EGH (@JamesMacharia_) March 6, 2019

 

Earlier on, the go-slow by the staff at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) had left hundreds of passengers stranded after their flights were delayed or rescheduled on Wednesday morning.

Top among the issues that the disgruntled staff have complained about is the proposed takeover of the airport by Kenya Airways and unfair staff hiring and compensation.

As a result, 26 outbound flights have not departed from the airport’s runways. Similarly, about six inbound flights that were expected to land at JKIA between 1.55am and 6.59am have  still not made their way into the airport.