To restore Kenya Airways pride, boost staff morale first

The airline can also approach the national government and seek for a judicious reduction in the amount it pays for its fuel whose bill accounts for about 35 percent of its operations cost.[PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

The Sh10.4 billion net loss suffered by Kenya Airways (KQ) over the past six months may have caught Kenyans unaware, but did not come as a surprise to savvy financial analysts. Although the amount lost may have broken the previous corporate Kenya ceiling, the announcement of the continued and bigger losses by an in-coming Chief Executive Mbuvi Ngunze in a company in the middle of a debt cycle have a long history locally and internationally.

Evidence on the ground, however, suggests that KQ management’s optimism that they can regain lost ground and fly into profit soon is well grounded. But like all good things in life, the assurance of KQ’s future profits has a caveat: It must do what it does best and persuade others—particularly the national government which also happens to be its top shareholders—to do its part.