Stephen Mbaru had travelled from the Dallas in the US to Kenya at the time of the JKIA fire. The above is his account of what happened to him

Complaint:How Kenya Airways treated customers when JKIA was on fire

 Thursday, September 5, 2013 · 

I’m appalled by how you handled your customers when the airport was on fire. KLM/KQ  4141 was supposed to land at 0630hrs on 08/07/2013.

Plane diverted to Mombasa  international airport. The Captain communicated to your customers that for our
safety and the airline’s, we had to land in Mombasa with the assurance that, KQ  customer service will assist everyone with accommodation and means back home.

After  4 hours on the plane, all the customers whose final destination was Nairobi were  asked to disembark the plane. I personally had been on the journey from Dallas for  14hrs not mentioning 8hrs layover at Amsterdam. Clearing with customs and  immigration was smooth. Public relations/customer service (Martha Wairimu) needs  more training on how to handle customers, impolite and unable to make pronounced  decisions.

The only option given to customers destined to Nairobi was a bus shuttle  to Nairobi at midday. I personally asked to be checked in to a hotel and board a bus  to Nairobi early in the morning. Customer service representative explained that  being my destination was Nairobi I must go to Nairobi.

I asked for a supervisor. No  response for one hour. Four women who had small children begged to be checked in a  hotel as they were too tired to travel, no mercy was shown. Customer service  indicated we will be taken to Nairobi international airport where our family can  come and pick us. I decided to board the bus after it was clear we the customers  were on our own. Only snack provided was a coke. The bus we boarded had issues with  the lighting system. We got stuck for almost one hour, way past Voi town. The  visitors to my country were more scared than me, it was dark and nobody was  communicating to the customers what was going on.

We were rescued by another bus  which was part of the entourage. We arrived in Nairobi almost midnight everyone was  expecting to be taken to the airport as promised. The bus driver stopped the bus on  Mombasa road at Total gas station and explained that the contract with KQ was to  drop us at that gas station.

We all complained why this was not communicated to us  like 30 minutes or 40 minutes ago so we can communicate with our family on where to  pick us up. The Gas station was closed when we got there some of us refused to  alight the bus until our ride got there. We all feared for our safety, but all the  bus driver wanted to do was head back to Mombasa without caring for our safety.

Most  of the Kenyan customers on that flight visited home for burial of loved ones or to  visit with their sick family members. I always love that sense of belonging when I  fly with KQ please don’t take that away from dedicated customers. Thanking you in
advance for worsening our pain and for a horrible experience.

Yours concerned customer,

Stephen Mbaru

Stephen Mbaru had travelled from the Dallas in the US to Kenya at the time of the JKIA fire. The above is his account of what happened to him