Kenya Airways Lays off Staff in Nigeria

Kenya Airways (NSE: KQ) has laid off its Nigeria staff and appointed a general sales agent (GSA) to deal with its commercial and customer service operations.

The GSA will be in charge of representing the carrier in Lagos, Nigeria, overseeing ticket sales and cargo space at a commission.

The move, according to the management, is expected to reduce KQ’s cost of operations in Nigeria in line with its restructuring plan.

Kenya Airways has laid off 22 of its 26 employees remaining with only the country manager, station manager, and two other employees.

“We expect a pushback from the labor unions who feel that the lay-off was unfair as the staff wasn’t sufficiently remunerated,” said Genghis Capital.

According to the unions, the airline owes the sacked workers 26 months’ worth of compensation rather than the four week- pay that the airline is said to have compensated the employees.

The counter is currently trading at 12.80 shillings per share, a one week’s high and -25.36 percent YTD.