More than 50 Kenya Airways passengers were on Tuesday night left stranded at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
The passengers were planning to arrive in Nairobi later in the day, but were forced to stay within the busy airport for over six hours.
One of the passengers told K24 Digital they had already boarded when an announcement was made that the plane’s door could not close properly, and that some passengers (volunteers) needed to alight to avoid incidents, with a promise of an alternative plane.
KQ also promised an extra Sh50,000 ($500) for any volunteers as well as food as they waited for the next plane or to be rerouted.
“We were at JFK in New York and the flight was supposed to leave at 1pm. We sat in the flight for about one-and-a-half hours when we were told that 58 people were required to leave, at about 3pm, the last person left,” the passenger said.
The passenger said that they had to wait for food for more than 10 hours.
“We were told we would be given food but we went without any offer of food or water from 11am till 9pm, which is around the time we left,” said Grace Wacuka.
The incident comes in the backdrop of continued loss-making streak by the airline just hours after it issued yet another profit-warning.
As at the time of publishing, the airline had not responded to K24 Digital despite numerous calls to the outgoing CEO Sebastian Mikosz.
