Allan Kilavuka: Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Airways A bereaved family has sought an explanation from the Kenya Airways management after its negligent employees failed to load a casket that was booked on a cargo flight to Kisumu.
On the morning of Friday, 17 June, friends and kin of the late Paul Ouma Dundos were left stranded at the Kisumu International Airport when the body of their loved one failed to arrive on time.
Airing out his frustrations via a Facebook post, the son of the deceased, Mr Jacob Dundos Ouma, revealed that when they showed up at the airport, a staff member rudely informed them that the remains of his father were still in Nairobi and would be loaded into the next flight set for 2 pm.
To add salt to injury, the grave inconvenience came with no prior notice.
This was despite them taking wasting hours of their time filling out forms and submitting the paperwork, which included the mobile phone numbers that they could have at least used to communicate.
When they confronted the Kenya Airways Kisumu Manager, he only sluggishly told them off and redirected them to the customer care desk to file their complaint.
The sudden disruption left Mr Ouma’s family with the heavy burden of rescheduling the rest of the day’s activities.
They also had foot extra bills and provided lunch for the hundreds of guests who attended the funeral. “So we woke up at 3 am to check in the remains of our father at KQ cargo. The paperwork alone took 2 hours, and in all the forms, we filled in our telephone numbers. We arrive in Kisumu and someone is there to tell us that the casket was not loaded in our flight as booked and that it will be loaded into the 2 pm flight. Never mind, everyone has already arrived at the airport. We ask why they did not inform us prior to the flight. The manager is referring me to customer care to raise a complaint. Do these idiots know the inconvenience they have caused? Who will pay for all those vehicles out there till 3 pm? Will they provide lunch to the hundreds?” reads the Facebook post. Screengrab of Jacob Dundos Ouma's Facebook post