If you were stuck at JKIA over the weekend, you can breathe easy now, Kenya's aviation workers have officially called off their strike.

Kenya's aviation workers have called off a strike that brought flights to a standstill at its main international airport and other airports, Transport Minister Davis Chirchir and aviation workers union head Moss Ndiema confirmed on Tuesday.

The strike, led mostly by air traffic controllers on Sunday and Monday, disrupted several flights into and out of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, and the delays quickly spilled over to regional airports in East Africa and beyond.

In a joint statement, the union, the airport and civil aviation authorities, and low-cost airline Jambojet signed a return-to-work agreement to end the action while negotiations on all outstanding issues continue.

"We are simply calling off our strike action and pleading with our members to begin the process of normalising operations, restoring services," Ndiema told a press conference. "For those who are on duty, we are asking them to begin clearing flights."

According to the Kenya Aviation Workers' Union (KAWU), this has been a long time coming. Ahead of the strike, KAWU said their action stemmed from long-running grievances involving three employers the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, airports operator Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), and Kenya Airways' low-cost subsidiary Jambojet.

KAWU Secretary General Ndiema had said previously that the union wanted court-backed intervention, citing the lack of a collective bargaining agreement at the Civil Aviation Authority, delayed salary reviews, a dispute over union dues at KAA, and what he described as victimisation of union members at Jambojet.

Passengers at the main Nairobi airport reported waiting for hours for updates as the disruption stretched into a second day on Monday. Airlines operating routes to and from Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia and Mauritius were forced to cancel and reschedule flights because so much of the region connects through Nairobi.

JKIA is not just any airport. It is one of Africa's busiest aviation hubs, handling over 8 million passengers a year and serving as the base for Kenya Airways. It is also the gateway for most of East Africa, which is why a strike by controllers in Nairobi causes cancellations in Kigali, Entebbe, Dar es Salaam and beyond.

This is also not the first time we have seen this kind of standoff. The union, which represents about 10,000 workers, held a day-long strike a year ago over a controversial government plan to lease JKIA to India's Adani Group for expansion and modernisation. That plan sparked national protests and was later dropped.

The bigger sore point is the CBAs. Three collective bargaining agreements have been suspended since 2015, that is almost a decade without a proper pay review or agreement on terms, leaving many workers on temporary contracts for permanent roles. No wonder frustration has been building.

For now, the return-to-work deal means flights are being cleared, but the union says negotiations will continue. If you are travelling in the next 24 hours, still check with your airline as airlines work through the backlog.

#Kenya #JKIA #NairobiAirport #KAWU #KenyaAviationStrike #DavisChirchir #Jambojet #KenyaAirways #EastAfrica #AviationNews #KenyaNews #CBInewsTV