I have been trying to avoid this topic because its sensitive. however i feel we must re look at ourselves as a people as well as investors. if the reports coming from Cameroon are indeed true then we must react to them.i have seen that the initial reactions from most Kenyan bloggers have been support for the airline and also a call to support the airline. what i wonder is whether saying out loud that the airline anyway has the best safety record in Africa is doing us any favor. when we say that we have the safest airline in Africa, does it give our customers confidence in the airline. would they not have more confidence if we got concerned, looked at the root causes and gave them answers. we know that the airline lost another aircraft only 7 years ago, the black box has not been analyzed or has it. and we have another. based on those stats can we really claim cleanliness and pretend to give confidence to our would be customers?
the report that the pilot could have flown into a storm is even more shocking and worrying, the question that begs is this, if it were true was it necessary? i have heard in the grapevine that the CEO does not take any lateness by the planes lightly , he is a performer and he wants performance. it has variously been suggested that the pilot was under pressure to fly the plane to Kenya so that the lateness target could be achieved. of course as at now that can be treated as speculation. however the fear is this ; what if its true? We must put it to the CEO and others with similar views as far as perfomance and delivery is concerned that there is more to achievement. there must be humanness even in the work setting. i have seen several occasions when managers task their subordinates toa point of collapse just because company targets have to be met. i hold that such targets without the human angle are not only enslaving but also punitive.
i also hold that it will help us if we dissected this matter however painfully it will be other than covering it all up with talks about being patriotic and supporting the airline
I agree with you Odegle. The same crossed my mind but in such an event I was hesitant to point an accusatory finger. However, as a Licensed Professional, the Captain should have used professional judgement and stayed on the ground until it was safe. There are certain areas where Professional judgment should supercede fear of being reprimanded by the CEO. When you're in charge of hundreds of lives, their safety should always be first. I'm a big believer in the credo that "you can't always ask for permission, but you can always ask for forgiveness". He should have stayed on the ground and dealt with any consequences later. But one thing I really don't understand, this was a very experienced Captain. It may just have been poor judgment on his part. African airports needs to tighten their rules. I know in US airports a pilot cannot take off without clearance. So the Cameroonian's also dropped the ball here.
ReplyDeleteTrue dat....investors are singing about supporting KQ but I'm not. There is the question of the 23 year old pilot. Who knows if he wasn't the captain on the ill fated flight? Im not flying KQ any time soon nor will my relatives and my friends. If the CEO is running the company with an iron fist till he scares his staff, then blood is in his hands.
ReplyDeleteOdegle,
ReplyDeleteI've even heard of more wierd claims of drunkardness on the part of KQ pilot in charge of the ill fated plane.
In light of persistent claims of "drank flying" by KQ pilots, should KQ clients insist on alcoblow tests infront of passangers before takeoff?
@no-spin, today i have heard from a former employee that naikuni is so concerned about cost cutting that he orders the pilots to put off the airlines AC out immediately upon landing to cut on costs. he also wants them to make sure they don't spend on inconvenience hospitality. since if a passenger is late due to connection, KQ would have to provide accommodation in a top hotel. but i agree Cameroon should have closed the airport
ReplyDelete@anon, in fact that is what i was asking myself. do those reminders give me confidence ? nah
@outfoxed, that for sure is a very serious claim which needs investigation