Court bars planned Kenya Airways strike

NAIROBI (Reuters) – A Kenyan court issued an order on Friday preventing pilots at loss-making national carrier Kenya Airways from going ahead with a strike next week, a lawyer for the airline said.

Shares in the company were also boosted by reports that the chief executive and chairman could be soon be replaced, meeting a key demand of pilots who have called an indefinite strike which is scheduled to start on Oct. 18.

The strike appeared in doubt after judge Nduma Nderi’s order restraining pilots’ union KALPA from proceeding.

After the ruling, KAPLA said in a statement its members were open to talks with the government to resolve the stand-off, but did not say if they had dropped the call for industrial action.

Kenyan broadcaster Citizen had earlier reported on its website that Chief Executive Officer Mbuvi Ngunze and Chairman Dennis Awori would exit by the end of the month, without giving a source.

By 1134 GMT, shares in the airline, part owned by Air France KLM and the Kenyan government, were trading at 4.50 shillings, up 3.45 percent.

“They are laying out plans to replace the senior management, that includes the CEO, this is based on reports that I am reading,” Daniel Kuyoh, analyst at Alpha Africa Asset Managers, told Reuters when asked about the reason for the share rise.