Angry Reactions As KQ Announces Plan to Purchase ill-fated Boeing 737-800 Max Planes

News that Kenya Airways will go ahead and buy the ill fated Boeing 737-800 Max Planes despite being grounded across the the world has attracted several reactions from Kenyans on Twitter.

Dear @KenyaAirways,
Is this not a case of putting profits before safety? Why would you commit to a plane before you know for sure whether it will ever be safe to fly?https://t.co/XsKQLHGnI7

— gathara (@gathara) March 26, 2019

KQ chair Michael Joseph announced that they will go ahead with plans to buy 10 choppers worth an estimated sh 120 billion.

Kenya Airways will okay its orders for the Boeing 737-800 Max jets that have been grounded globally after suffering two major crashes in 5 months, Chairman Michael Joseph reported.

KQ is planning to order up to 10 of the planes worth an estimated KSh120 billion ($1.2 billion). pic.twitter.com/HKHjYitO1g

— Cyprian, Is Nyakundi (@CisNyakundi) March 26, 2019

“The only option that we have planned for is the Boeing 737-800 Max because this will make it easier for us to conduct training and maintenance of the aircraft,” said Mr Joseph in an interview with the Business Daily.

“We hope that between now and the time when we are ready to acquire the new fleet, Boeing will have solved the current problem,” he added.

So, while Indonesian airline Garuda Indonesia, decided to cancel an order of 49 Boeing 737 Max 8s citing a loss of passenger trust, the geniuses at KQ will do the exact opposite and go ahead to procure 10 of them at Sh120bn@Kenney_Mboya @Bethwel_Onyando#MPs

— Morris Odhiambo (@Morris2022) March 26, 2019

The US aviation giant has been racing to fix a software problem suspected to be the cause of the two crashes that killed 157 people in the Ethiopian Airlines accident this month and 189 people in an Indonesian carrier Lion Air crash five months ago.

36 of those killed in the Ethiopian crash were Kenyans.

Preliminary investigations have pointed to similarities in the circumstances surrounding the two crashes.

I’d like to believe this is fake news, if nothing else for the timing. Worst possible time for an airline to say this. Its as insensitive a statement about safety as it can get. But this is the same airline that did not factor in competition in its strategy. Par of the course. https://t.co/7Se0NSdIwh

— David Ndii (@DavidNdii) March 25, 2019

Kenya Airways (KQ) has the option of buying more of the older 737-800 version of the Boeing aircraft that does not feature the suspect software, but this could see it lose the fuel efficiency associated with the new jet.

The Boeing 737-800 Max jets were grounded across the world following the two air crashes.