Workers at Kenya’s primary aviation hub, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), ended a strike on Tuesday that triggered significant delays and cancellations for both domestic and international flights, as well as disruptions to air traffic control services.
The industrial action, described as a “go-slow” by the Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU), left thousands of passengers stranded at one of Africa’s busiest air transport gateways. In a statement posted on the social media platform X, the Kenya Airports Authority confirmed that KAWU agreed to suspend its strike following government-mediated talks. The union verified the call-off but provided no details regarding the terms of the agreement reached. The underlying grievances, which include a stalled employment agreement under negotiation, remain unresolved.
While Kenya’s Ministry of Transport indicated that flight operations would resume, officials did not specify a timeline for a full return to normal schedules. The potential safety implications of the dispute were highlighted earlier by the Kenya Airline Pilots Association, which warned that crew scheduling disruptions from the strike risked increasing pilot fatigue.
The work stoppage echoes a labour dispute at the same airport in 2024, when aviation workers protested the government’s planned partnership with India’s Adani Group to expand JKIA. That earlier strike was rooted in concerns over job losses and the perceived relinquishment of future airport revenue. The Adani deal was subsequently cancelled by Kenyan authorities, citing corruption concerns after the conglomerate’s chairman, Gautam Adani, faced criminal indictment in the United States.
JKIA serves as a critical connectivity point for Eastern Africa and a major transit hub for cargo and passenger traffic across the continent. The sudden suspension of core operations underscored the facility’s systemic importance and the friction between labour interests and national infrastructure projects. Although flights are set to restart, the absence of a public resolution to the core negotiation deadlock suggests potential for future industrial action. The airport’s operational stability now hinges on ongoing dialogue between the union, the airports authority, and government officials, with passengers and airlines closely monitoring the recovery process.
