Three senior staff in the Kenya Airways management board have been sent on compulsory leave as part of an agreement to end a stalemate between KQ and its pilots.
Human Resource director Alban Mwenda, airline safety director Alex Avedi, and flight operations director Captain Paul Mwangi, have all been asked to pave way for a review according to an internal communique seen by The Star.
The exit of the three provides a reprieve to passengers of the airline after its pilots, barring them from striking failed to report to work on Thursday.
Ten KQ planes were reportedly grounded on the runways as a result of the strike that started around midday. Regular operations at the airline that operates out of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport will resume on Friday.
The Kenya Airline Pilots Association had issued a on Tuesday calling for the resignation of KQ’s CEO Mbuvi Ngunze, who they accused of mismanagement of the airline resulting in massive losses.
As part of the agreement reached following a day-long meeting between Kalpa, the Ministry of Transport and representatives from KQ, a planned transfer of pilots to other airlines has been stopped pending further consultations among stakeholders.
The retrenchment of over 600 workers at the airline that had been announced under a staff rationalisation program has also been suspended.
Following the calling off of the industrial action plan on Thursday evening, Transport CS James Macharia who was in the meeting, said a cabinet sub-committee will be formed to look into the pilots’ grievances.
, the main target of the pilots’ strike has survived the ouster and is still in office as stated by the airline on its official Twitter account.
The statement was in response to earlier reports on social media that Ngunze had bowed to the pressure and stepped down from his position barely two years after taking over from long serving CEO Titus Naikuni.
Ngunze will however be hard put to turn around after a series of events saw the firm record a loss of Sh30 billion in 2014-2015, the highest by a listed company in the country’s history.
Welcoming the changes to the KQ board management, Kapla's secretary general Paul Gichinga thanked the over 500 fliers attached to the association for their commitment to pushing for the changes.
Gichinga however stated that the strike was only deferred for one month as the review continues.
"We again urge all members to go beyond the call of duty to crew all flights tomorrow and restore goodwill during the one-month consultative process leading to 1st June, 2016," Gichinga said.
He added that more changes at management level are expected as per an agreed upon timeline with CS Macharia.
This article has been updated.