Kenya Airways champions ethics, expertise, and sustainability objectives

In a agency dedication to sustaining excessive requirements of integrity of their operations, Kenya Airways (KQ) has adopted a stringent stance towards unethical practices, whereas additionally specializing in strategic expertise recruitment and retention, in addition to sustainability efforts.

Speaking in the course of the just lately concluded Africa Business Ethics Conference (ABEC) 2024, Tom Shivo, Chief People Officer at KQ, shared the airline’s multifaceted method to ethics, and known as on different companies to uphold and preserve an moral tradition of their ecosystem.

“At Kenya Airways, we recognize that ethics is not just about compliance; it is about creating a culture where integrity is celebrated, and misconduct is rejected.” Mr. Shivo asserted. “No matter how great your business success, it remains fragile without a foundation of ethics and ethical behavior.”

More just lately, Shivo has emphasised KQ’s zero tolerance for unethical conduct, citing a latest case the place an worker was caught with falsified tutorial paperwork. “One of our staff members was prosecuted and sentenced to six months in prison for this offense in 2024,” Shivo acknowledged, highlighting the airline’s dedication to integrity.

“We have a campaign called Act Right, Speak Right. Through this campaign we demonstrate the good deeds of one or two of our staff. On the other hand, we also announce negative deeds that staff have done,” he stated. This agency stance extends to varied features of the group, with 54 staff suspended and 25 others terminated in 2024 for the unethical use of the just lately suspended “Buddies pass,” which was a journey perk meant for family and friends.

The moral requirements at KQ are deeply ingrained, with staff usually demonstrating commendable conduct. Shivo praised an worker who refused a Ksh. 7,000 bribe and reported the incident to the authorities. He known as for a broader adoption of moral conduct in organizations, advocating for this message to circulate from the very best management echelons right down to the junior staff, in addition to guaranteeing that punitive measures are commensurate with the unethical offenses.

KQs War For Talent

 In addition to its moral endeavours, KQ is addressing the worldwide competitors for expert aviation professionals. According to the CPO, the airline is ramping up its efforts to safe and nurture expertise, notably in response to intense poaching of execs from corporations within the Far East. “The demand is actually very high for pilots, technicians, revenue managers, and flight dispatchers; it’s a war for the best talent.”

To counter this, KQ has initiated partnerships with instructional establishments to make sure there stays a gradual inflow of certified graduates. “We’re expanding these collaborations with more universities and aviation companies in the coming year,” Shivo famous.

Beyond recruitment, KQ is dedicated to preserving its workforce adept in an business that’s continually evolving. “Our strategic training programs are designed to keep our staff up to speed with the latest industry dynamics,” stated Shivo. This dedication extends to steady recruitment, which he clarified is pushed extra by the airline’s development ambitions than merely changing departing employees.

With KQ at present servicing 46 locations, Shivo expressed optimism about increasing this community, which in flip, within the medium to long term, will inexorably necessitate additional employees augmentation. To appeal to and retain such expertise, KQ has developed the KQ Academy and periodic teaching for over 500 staff, guaranteeing they continue to be on the forefront of aviation experience.

Among the present locations served by KQ is Canton, China, an Asian vacation spot that KQ had beforehand suspended operations in the course of the COVID period. However, in response to Trizah Bomett, Revenue Manager Pricing, the final three years have taken a flip for the higher.

“The bookings post Covid already stabilised. In 2021 the bookings were still down, then in 2022 we started seeing what we were calling revenge travel. By 2023, we were already looking at 2019 passenger numbers. So things have picked up and Covid is behind everyone,” she stated.

Trizah Bomett famous the Chinese route is one KQ want to go to each day, in contrast to the present 4 journeys per week that KQ operates to China. Currently, KQ is barely working to at least one level (Canton) but China has over 15 large cities. “We have what we call the fifth freedom agreement with the two governments. We can pick passengers in Bangkok and drop them in Canton, and vice versa. We however still need more partners to fly passengers to the other cities.”

KQ Pioneering Sustainability

 The airline has established an innovation hub as a part of its dedication to sustainability, fostering the event of inexperienced applied sciences and processes inside the aviation sector. This specific innovation hub function a middle the place eco-friendly concepts can thrive, resulting in improvements that scale back environmental affect whereas bettering service high quality.

Under the umbrella of Project Kifaru, KQ is furthering its sustainability efforts with three strategic initiatives: the Pyro-Diesel Plant for producing various gasoline, the enlargement of the Water Bottling Plant, and reworking Msafiri House right into a centralized operations hub. The water bottling plant initiative not solely reduces the airline’s reliance on exterior water provides but additionally considerably cuts down plastic waste via using reusable water containers for each employees and passengers.

In what got here down and a groundbreaking transfer, KQ grew to become the primary African airline to make use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) on a long-haul flight from Nairobi to Amsterdam, as a part of the Sustainable Flight Challenge by SkyTeam. This effort underscores KQ’s proactive stance on decarbonization, aiming to mix SAF with typical jet gasoline to scale back greenhouse gasoline emissions. The airline’s participation in these international challenges, together with the Global Sustainable Flight Challenge 2024, because the CFO famous, highlights KQ’s dedication to showcasing and implementing sustainable practices in flight operations.

Shivo emphasised that these efforts are integral to KQ’s long-term imaginative and prescient. “We’re committed to leading the way in sustainable aviation, not just for compliance but as part of our ethos,” he acknowledged, highlighting the airline’s purpose to stability development with environmental accountability.

Story by Edwin Muthomi