KQ Spends Ksh 62.3 Million To Quarantine Staff At High-End-Hotels

Revealing the firm’s high cost of operations in the Covid-19 pandemic, Kenya Airways spent 62.3 million shillings in two-and-a-half months to quarantine its cabin crew in Nairobi’s high-end hotels.

The spending came at a time when the carrier was also cutting workers’ pay to preserve cash and stay aloft.

KQ made the payment to Four Points by Sheraton Nairobi Airport hotel, Four Points by Sheraton Nairobi Hurlingham hotel, and Panari Hotel on Mombasa Road in Nairobi on diverse dates.

Though the Business daily, the expenditure was incurred between March 25^th and May 26^th, a period when the government had banned international passengers’ travel and restricted domestic movements, limiting it to cargo operations and special passenger flight missions.

Two weeks ago, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) said that will set perks of chief executives of Kenya Airways, the Kenya Airports (KAA), and yet to be formed Kenya Aviation Investment Corporation if Parliament adopts proposals to Nationalize KQ and consolidate the operations of parastatals in aviation.

The amendment to the National Aviation Management Bill, 2020 proposes to take away the power of setting salaries and other benefits of the chief executive of the three state-owned corporations from their respective boards.

The loss-making converted some of its 41 passenger planes grounded by the pandemic for shipment of cargo to Europe and Asia.

According to an invoice prepared by the airline’s finance department, Panari Hotel received 23 million shillings to offer accommodation services to KQ crew members in March.

The rest of the money went to the Sheraton hotel properties. KQ spent additional slum to quarantine its staff at other properties including Hilton Garden Inn, Boma Hotel, and Crowne Plaza Hotel.

In a protest letter, Kalpa accused KQ of assigning duties to crew members who are in self-isolation before the completion of the recommended 14-day period.

On 29^th October, KQ resume Nairobi-New York direct flights. The airline said it will initially operate two weekly flights on the Nairobi New York before increasing the frequency to three times a week.