Local carrier Silverstone Air is in the process of laying off its staff days after the grounding of its planes.
Reports indicate that the airline on Monday served its pilots and crew members with a one-month redundancy notice.
Silverstone Air management noted that the decision followed the recent suspension of its Dash-8 planes by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).
“Silverstone Air Services Limited has become redundant. This decision has been made as a result of the recent decision by Kenya Civil Aviation Authority to ground the company’s fleet, thereby grounding our passenger services,” the management said.
KCCA’s move, according to Silverstone Air, adversely affected the company’s revenue hence the move.
“This has resulted in irreparable damage to the company’s brand equity as evidenced by mass cancellations of tickets. The company cannot, therefore, continue to operate commercially. We assure you that the step the company has taken has no relation to matters of your individual productivity.
“This letter serves as notice of redundancy, taking into account your notice period of one month as per your contract of employment. This Notice is effective November 18,” said Silverstone Air.
A week ago, KCCA announced that the carrier’s Dash-8 planes had been grounded to pave way for investigations into incidents involving its aircraft.
Responding to the suspension, Silverstone said that it had temporarily suspended all scheduled services.
Read Also: Silverstone Air Suspends Homa Bay, Wajir And Lodwar Routes
“During this period, we will continue to work with our customers to help minimize any disruption to their travel. We are in the process of contacting all our clients to re-protect them,” said Silverstone in a statement dated November 12.
In late October, a plane operated by the local carrier crash-landed after losing one of its wheels.
The aircraft, a Dash 8 300, with registration number 5Y-NOP was headed to Nairobi from Lodwar when one of its tyres fell off during take-off forcing the pilot to crash-land at Eldoret International Airport in Uasin Gishu County.
The incident happened just hours after another Silverstone’s aircraft hit and damaged another plane at the Wilson Aiport in Nairobi.
Read Also: Aviation Authority Swings Into Action After Outcry Over Silverstone Air Safety
In a separate incident in October, a plane operated by the carrier skidded off the runway and crashed shortly after take-off leaving at least nine passengers with injuries.
The aircraft that was headed to Lamu crashed shortly after takeoff due to overloading and disregard to the safety regulations at the airport.
Recently, this desk revealed that the Dash8 plane should not operate from Wilson Airport, owing to the design of the airport which is designed to serve smaller planes.
Two weeks ago, after the incidents, Silverstone Air suspended operations on three of its routes including Nairobi-Homa Bay, Nairobi-Wajir and Nairobi-Lodwar following below-par performance in the routes.
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