America, here we come: All set for KQ's historic flight tonight

At 10.45 tonight, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) will take to the skies on a historic flight to New York whose impact may be felt for years.
This will be the first direct flight connecting the two countries since PanAmerican Airlines, which later went bankrupt, stopped flying to Kenya in 1988.
On this flight will be senior officials led by Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma, Kenya Airways chief executive Sebastian Mikosz and chairman Michael Joseph.

TOURISM
Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia who has been at the centre of efforts to get the green light from the US said: “We are very proud of this launch. It has been a journey that we have diligently travelled in to reach here. This milestone will now open massive business opportunities, the tourism sector will boom and time spent on air will be shortened. One will be having dinner in Nairobi and breakfast in New York.”

SYMBOLICALLY
His Foreign Affairs counterpart said she will be on a “historic mission” today.
“It marks a new beginning in Kenya’s aviation industry; one that opens new horizons for Kenya’s trade and investment; one that opens the way for enhanced people to people relations,” said Dr Juma.
Two young Kenyan innovators, Shirlene Nafula and Evans Wadongo, will also be among the 234 passengers after the State gave them tickets.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was earlier expected to be on the flight, will instead symbolically flag it off at JKIA.

LIVE BLOG
At just over 15 hours, this flight will be among the longest in the world, trailing two hours behind the current record, a Singapore to New York flight that clocks 17 hours. It was launched earlier this month.
CNN journalist Richard Quest, who this week has charmed Kenyans with a visit to the country, was on the Singapore flight — and will tonight be on the Dreamliner from Nairobi. He wrote a live blog for CNN detailing his trans-continental flight, heavily praising it for its superiority in creature comforts.

CELEBRITY CHEF
“This is Singapore airlines, they work harder than just about any other airline to perfect the experience. The flight has run incredibly smoothly. Food and drink available throughout.”
Kenya Airways (KQ) told the Sunday Nation that they anticipate very few complaints given the care they have taken with the flight.
“Customers can expect an enhanced experience on this flight. For instance their food will be off a menu designed and cooked by celebrity Chef Kiran Jethwa of Seven Seafood and Grill, who will also be on board,” said an airline spokesperson.

FOUR PILOTS
The airline has, however, remained tight-lipped about who will pilot the aircraft tonight citing security concerns despite earlier speculation pointing to Captain Koki Mutungi. The airline has revealed that there will be four pilots and 12 flight attendants. The flight is fully booked with 204 passengers in economy and 30 in business class.
The Dreamliner 787-8 is generally a comfortable plane with generous leg room, large windows, more personal space for passengers and quieter than most other planes, reducing the need for earplugs.
The aircraft is also known for its fuel efficiency, carrying just 85 tonnes of fuel one way, an advantage that cannot be underestimated in a long flight as this one. The less the fuel an aircraft needs, the better the profit margins for the airline.

CONNECTION
According to KQ, the new flight is expected to put Kenya on the map as a preferred tourist destination for Americans, and as a favourite connection point for other travellers from the continent.
“This flight is expected to boost trade and tourism not only for Kenya but also the rest of Africa using Nairobi as the African gateway. With the trade and tourism opportunities, there should be an opportunity to create direct and indirect employment for Kenyans and other African nationalities,” said KQ in a statement.
Kenya joins an elite club of six other sub-saharan countries with direct flights to the US: South Africa, Ethiopia, Cape Verde, Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria.

NON-COMPLIANCE
It has been a hard-won fight. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is stringent with the kind of conditions that qualifies African airports for clearance to fly directly to the US.
The first time that Kenya applied to be considered a Category 1 country was in 2013, and the application was rejected.
A second audit in 2014 saw the rejection upheld, with the US authorities citing several non-compliance issues with Kenya’s premier airport.
They complained that JKIA did not separate its arrivals and departures passengers, that there were houses too close to flight paths and that the airport was unfenced.
In February last year, however, JKIA got things right and the US FAA awarded it a category 1 ranking, qualifying it to operate direct flights to the US.

INAUGURAL
Then later in September, KQ was awarded a permit to operate direct flights to the US, paving the way for tonight’s inaugural flight.
At 15 hours long, the flight will significantly cut down on travel times usually plagued by long layovers in Europe or the Middle East.
Currently, the shortest flight from Nairobi to New York is a British Airways that takes over a day (27 hours) due to a ten hour layover at Heathrow Airport in London and costs an average of Sh68,000.
KQ will charge about Sh90,000 for Economy class — but this will also depend on various factors linked to specific bookings. The airline told Sunday Nation that both the inaugural outgoing and incoming flights are fully booked.

BOYCOTT
“We will be running daily flights on the route and we have sold more than 1,90 tickets for flights scheduled between October and December, and we expect the volume to go up as interest peaks,” said KQ through Ogilvy PR Agency.
This route is expected to inject much-needed revenue into the struggling airline which has been on a loss-making streak running into billions of shillings every year.
KQ had to rush to court earlier in the week to head off a strike notice by its employees who wanted to boycott the inaugural flight citing poor wages.
The Kenya Aviation Workers Union accused KQ of refusing to amend the Collective Bargaining Agreement in compliance with aviation laws, citing longer working hours. The workers also demanded that the crew on the direct flight be paid Sh20,000 for each extra hour they worked and not the Sh5,000 that KQ has offered.

COST-CUTTING
A senate committee formed in 2015 to look into the airline found that KQ management had made consistently poor investment decisions, the price of tickets was much higher than those sold by competitors and that its customer service was poor, characterised by flight cancellations.
The airline has been on the up, however, reporting in August this year that it reduced its losses by 28 per cent to Sh4 billion for the 2018 half year by introducing cost-cutting measures and growing its revenue.