This archive report was first published on 19 November 2019.
Kenya's low-cost carrier Silverstone Air Services Limited has grounded its operations and terminated the contracts of its pilots and crew members, citing irreparable damage to its brand equity.
The airline's management served its staff with termination letters on Monday, citing the recent decision by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) to ground its Dash-8 fleet for seven days to allow inspection after a sequence of mishaps.
On November 18, the airline issued a one-month redundancy notice to its pilots and crew members, stating that the step taken had no relation to matters of their individual productivity.
According to a source within the airline, those who were flying the Dash-8 have already been retrenched.
The airline has been on the spot over a number of incidents at local airports, including an incident on October 28 where one of the rear wheels of its aircraft came off as the plane was taking off from Lodwar Airstrip.
On October 11, a Silverstone aircraft crashed off the Wilson Airport runway shortly after taking off, resulting in the death of five crew members and 50 passengers, with two passengers injured.
As of now, the airline has a fleet of 11 planes, but KCAA had said other makes and models of the airline could operate as they have met the required safety standards.
On November 15, KCAA Director General Gilbert Kibe said: “They (Silverstone) cannot operate until we come up with a report on what happened.”
