@kyt: I'm not bashing the KQ crew. Their demands are not at par with the other airlines, they are actually asking for much more. The issue as VVS said elsewhere is that clamour to have additional pay backdated for 15 months! That is total BS! They may have contributed to the success of the company but that does not give them a right to hold the company at ransom with these crazy demands!

Furthermore, there is no way you can compare the service you get from the other airlines with KQ! So to use the rationale that 'KQ was the best airline x years ago so they should get the same pay' does not fly!

@Ric dees: I've also used Singapore Airlines a number of times. Never seen better service! And entertainment for that matter!

At the risk of drawing the wrath of shareholders wanting maximum profits- but not expecting workers who generate the profits also to aspire for maximum return for their labour, I would just say that KQ needs to be competitive to its peers (at least ethiopian,SAA).

@Sasha above seems to suggest they are a bit on the lower side.

Kyt, kindly supply the sources and the years when KQ actually won "best Airline in Africa" and the nominating/vetting body. I also used to buy the line that KQ was the best airline in Africa until I started using other African Airlines viz: Ethiopian and SAA and discovered that they were also claiming to be the best.

E.g. Go to the World Travel Awards website and you will find SAA has been voted the best airline in Africa for 13 years from 1998-2010. A search on Google also shows a news release by Ethiopian having won the 2008 Best Airline in Africa Award from Travel Awards Africa. Similarly Skytraxx has SAA as the best in Africa in 2008 and 2009. Where is KQ?

Now, I do fly KQ as much as I can partly because I am an owner and also for convenience, especially on Intra-Africa routes, but I am not buying that "best airline" line. I would like KQ to stand out there among the best not only in Africa but in the World. That's why I religiously attend KQ AGMs and Investor briefings and try to put my point across.

My thinking is, this Pride of Africa has a strategy. I dont think they woke up one day and found themselves where they are. If you look at the qualification of the hostesses (the ones i know and going by their recent advert) then you may understand why the low pay (if it is). The company could be using low qualification for low pay.... (keeping costs at a minimum kind of) but then, once the hostesses (i dont know what the men are called) breath the fresh air above the clouds, they realise their counterparts are pocketing more (most likely relative to their qualification) hence the demands.... oblivious of the "importance" of their grades.....