Cry my beloved Kenya Airways

Today, I write to mourn the possible – perhaps probable – demise of Kenya Airways, once a leading airline on the African continent. Kenya Airways, or KQ, as it’s popularly known, long, long ago – in the misty past unknown to anyone below 25 years of age – ruled the African skies.

There was never a truer moniker for the national carrier than the “Pride of Africa”. Africans of every hue and nationality bowed to KQ and swore by it. But that was back then. Today, KQ might as well be named the “Shame of Africa”. Once an undisputed giant, KQ is but a dwarf of its former self. What happened to this monument to national pride? Who, or what, cannibalised it?

Let me first lay my cards on the table before jingoists start ranting, and gagging. My late sister – may she rest in peace – was among the founding staff of KQ. She, along with everyone in the family, took deep pride in the national carrier. That’s why it pains me to write what some may see as a eulogy. But only an ostrich stupidly buries its head in the sand in the face of an oncoming cyclone. KQ is deathly ill, perhaps terminally, unless Kenya works a miracle. If not, we must ask ourselves for how much longer should the poor taxpayer continue to carry this carcass on her shoulder. Should we accept the inevitable and read its last rites?

One can’t blame emergent post-colonial states for their fascination with state-owned, or funded, national airlines. Piercing the skies and borders of other nations through the national airline was the most emphatic and visible image of independence and national sovereignty, even if the boast was empty. Literally penetrating another country’s borders – especially a European one – brought Africans psychological satisfaction. The colonial “master” had to accept this form of “native” revenge. The national airline usually adorned the colours of the national flag just to drive the point home. That’s why the collapse of some national airlines – and Uganda’s comes to mind – was an incalculable blow to the national psyche. Most states maintained unprofitable national carriers for the sake of ego.

Haemorrhaging KQ

It wasn’t just in Africa where the national carrier is a measure of a state’s greatness. Many European countries measure their international standing by the girth of their national airlines. I vividly recall how despondent the Swiss became when Swissair – the choice airline for UN diplomats and jetsetters – literally and figuratively came crashing down to earth and plunged into the deep oceans. You could hear the national hollers all the way from Geneva. One would’ve been forgiven for thinking that the Swiss had been decapitated of their manhood by a machete. The Dutch tightly clutch on to KLM, the French to Air France, the Brits to British Airways, the Qataris to Qatar Airways, and UAE to the Emirates. 

Even the mighty Americans, although they’ve no official national carrier, take great pride in the privately-owned large carriers such as Delta, American, United, and others. Not to mention that America is the home of Boeing, the world’s most iconic airplane manufacturer. So “little” African countries like Kenya should be cut some slack for holding onto a hulking money pit like KQ. But a time comes when enough is enough. Over the last two decades, the Kenyan taxpayer has repeatedly bailed out the haemorrhaging KQ to the tune of billions – with a big “B” – of dollars. Mismanagement, corruption, looting, bad partnerships, the government’s fecklessness, and plain old stupidity have done in KQ. Covid has driven in the last nail.

I heard that a certain imposing Gulf carrier wanted to make Nairobi its Africa hub. But corrupt government mandarins wanted to be kissed with millions of dollars. So the carrier took its wares and is now making some tiny Kenyan neighbour its hub. Very soon that country – no bigger than my native Kitui – could replace JKIA as the region’s dominant hub. If KQ dies and is buried, that tiny state will be Kenya’s only outlet to the outside world. When it rains, it pours. We will all be trooping through there, tail between the legs. Why? Because Kenyans – officials, the private sector, and citizens – are corrupt through and through. Who, or what, will slap us out of our slumber?

Wide-body jet

I end with a vignette. Last week I flew back and forth from Nairobi to Johannesburg. The flight there in a wide-body jet was on time and uneventful. The crew was excellent and the flight smooth. But the return leg was terrible. The nightmare started at the Oliver Tambo International Airport. It wasn’t clear whether to check in at Terminal A or B. We trekked back and forth. After check in, the departure gate became a mystery. It changed several times without warning. Then an interminable delay before departure. KQ ground staff were clueless. The flight crew was nice, although the pilot could’ve offered a full-throated apology. Should we just kill KQ?

Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School. He’s chair of KHRC. @makaumutua