MPs take offence with Kenya Airways staff

NAIROBI, KENYA: National carrier Kenya Airways could be in for turbulent times after members of the National Assembly united in supporting a motion that would effectively break its monopoly on domestic air travel.

Members yesterday vowed to teach the national carrier a lesson, over what they said was mistreatment of members of parliament and other regular travelers by airline staff.

The MPs threw brickbats at the national carrier, accusing the airline of using its dominance to frustrate both its competitors and customers.

"This House resolves that the government puts in place measures to fully liberalize the air fares including awarding licences to other operators to make air travel affordable as a result of fair competition," reads the motion, sponsored by Omar Mwinyi (Changamwe).

MPs are some of the most regular travelers in the country. The desire to halt the airline's supremacy of the airspace was backed up by personal experiences, which the MPs claimed they had endured in the hands of airline staff.

"Due to the monopoly of KQ, the staff do not treat passengers very well. A chairman of a committee was mistreated by a small girl working as cabin crew. I do not want the airline to mistreat members of parliament. The government must do everything it takes to see to it that air transport in the county is liberalised so that other players who have expressed interest can be given the opportunity to enter the market. This will reduce instances where KQ staffers mistreat passengers," said Fred Kopiyo , Awendo.

"Airline staff are lazy and rude. They have become discourteous due to the dominance of the airline," added Thomas Mwadeghu (Wundanyi).

Nicholas Gumbo (Rarieda) claimed that national carrier was behaving like a foreign airline.
"I wonder if Kenya airways can be called a Kenyan airline. At one time, KQ refused to accept Kenya shillings and instead asked me for dollars," Gumbo told the House.