Kenya Airways plans for an all Boeing future

One of the ways Kenya Airways is cutting down on costs is by simplifying its fleet, and this means getting rid of any aircraft that are not produced by Boeing. Kenya Airways only operates the E190 variant in a 96-seat configuration. All these will be phased out and replaced by B737s. Their B737-800s have a 145-seat configuration. No specific timeline was given with this only being said to be a medium to long-term goal.

“The board has approved that we move towards the Boeing aircraft. This is, however, going to happen progressively and not in one shot because we don’t want to overheat,” said CEO Allan Kilavuka. By having a less complex fleet, Kenya Airways expects to see reduced maintenance and training costs on crew and engineers due to the increased fleet commonality. The airline will have the Boeing 737 as its sole narrowbody aircraft, whilst its only widebody type will be the B787.

Kenya Airways owns budget carrier Jambo Jet, which operates a fleet of Bombardier Dash 8-400 aircraft. If the airline is to truly become an all Boeing airline, this means also getting rid of the Bombardier jets. If we are to go by the CEOs words, then these too would have to go.