Court Orders End Of Pilots Strike
The Milimani Court has ordered the striking Kenya Airways pilots to unconditionally return to work on Wednesday, November 9, from 6 am.
Lydia Kadima 
Judge Anna Mwaure of the Employment and Labour Relations Court issued the directives after hours of discussions between the airline and the pilots that produced no results.
The Kenya Airlines Pilots Association (KALPA) was called upon to explain why it should not be penalized for breaching a court order.
The pilots were compelled to stop their strike according to Justice James Rika's judgment dated October 31.
On November 4, however, KALPA began a strike that caused numerous planes to be grounded and left thousands of passengers stranded.
11 KALPA executives were ordered to appear in court on Monday to explain why they should not be penalized for contempt after starting the strike in defiance of a court order to stop it.
The pilots requested seven days to submit their arguments in their case.
The judge, however, insisted that a resolution be found in the meanwhile. The judge requested that the parties talk out a resolution following a contentious exchange.
"I can give you the seven days you are asking for but what will happen to the grounded planes? Will you resume work in the meantime because the country is losing and the economy hurting? the Judge Mwaure asked.
The judge left with them to negotiate a short-term agreement in her chamber before returning to say that the court had permitted the parties to speak and would provide an update on the outcome later in the afternoon.
As the two parties presented their cases in court, Judge Mwaure stated that the nation was incurring losses and that it was prudent to look for a solution.
