Pilots union says lacks confidence in Kenya Airways' leadership

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The board and senior executives of Kenya Airways lack the ability to steer the carrier out of its current loss-making streak, the Kenya Airline Pilots Association (KALPA) said on Wednesday. The airline, which is part-owned by Air France KLM, said last week its pretax loss narrowed 12 percent to 26.1 billion shillings ($257.78 million) in the year to March, amidst a decline in operating losses. Its net loss however widened. The carrier has been reducing its fleet, selling land and cutting jobs to recover from losses caused by a slump in tourism and the cost of renewing its planes. "KALPA reaffirms its lack of confidence in the board of directors and top-level management overseeing the recovery of Kenya Airways," the union said in a statement. Kenya Airways declined to comment immediately. The pilots grounded dozens of flights on April 28 when they went on strike demanding the removal of CEO Mbuvi Ngunze and other senior executives. Kenya Airways' head of human resources, flight operations director and head of safety left their positions after the strike, allowing KALPA to halt the walkout after a day. KALPA wants the airline to stop its job cuts programme which targets 600 employees, saying it is unfair. It also wants it to end its commercial partnership with KLM, which it says favours the Dutch carrier at the expense of Kenya Airways. ($1 = 101.2500 Kenyan shillings) (Reporting by John Ndiso; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)