Nicolas Economou/ NurPhoto via Getty Images Dawna L. Rhoades, does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, offers flights to over 56 destinations in 39 countries. This should be a remarkable feat in these waning days of the COVID-19 global pandemic .
Standing out among the brightly coloured aircraft on the field is the black, red, and green tail of the Kenyan flag. This aircraft livery belongs to the national flag carrier of Kenya, Kenya Airways . The airline, proclaimed The Pride of Africa under its name, was founded in 1977 following the breakup of the East Africa Community and the dissolution of East African Airways, a joint venture between Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
In 2019, Kenya Airways carried over 5.1 million passengers while its low-cost subsidiary, Jambojet, transported an additional 726,000. These were operational milestones to be celebrated by the airline and the country. But these cheery figures have not changed the airline’s fortunes.
Kenya Airway’s losses tripled to $333 million in the 12 months to December 2020 as COVID-19 containment measures cut passenger levels to their lowest level since 1999.
Kenya’s national airline isn’t alone in its struggles. Over the last two decades that I have been studying the sector, national carriers have gone to the wall in ever greater numbers. For instance, Delta Air Lines, one of the world’s largest carriers, posted a 2020 annual loss of $12.4 billion.
While it is helpful to keep both Kenya Airways and Delta Air Lines in mind when it comes to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on international airlines, it does not answer the larger question of why airlines seem to go from one crisis to another. To understand this issue, it is necessary to look at the nature of the airline industry, the factors that shape it, and the challenges it faces to achieve profitability. Tale of two Airlines
In recent years, Kenya Airways has received a series of government bailouts, and is reported to be seeking further government support due losses linked to COVID-19. It even sought to raise funds by requesting permission to run the profitable Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. This request was blocked by Parliament, citing possible loss of jobs and public revenue.
Previously, the Kenya government’s decision to […]