Mono-Fleeting: Inside Kenya Airways' Plan To Drop Popular Embraer Aircraft

National carrier, Kenya Airways (KQ), is planning to abandon all its 13 Embraer aircraft in favour of its Boeing fleet as it looks to bring on board a method known as 'mono-fleeting' to turn around its fortunes.

KQ currently operates the Embraer E190, a narrow-body, twin-engine jet aircraft manufactured by Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace company. The aircraft has been popularly used for short-haul flights both domestic and international, and it’s known for its efficient design and comfortable cabin. 

Speaking to Viral Tea, Henry Okatch, KQ's Head of Corporate Communications, confirmed the move to phase out the Embraer fleet and opt for purely Boeing planes tipped to ease KQ’s fleet operational maintenance and training costs on crew and engineers.

"It's called Fleet simplification a summary yes it's part of operational efficiencies," Okatch revealed.

What Is Mono-Fleeting?

Mono-fleeting, viewed as a cost-containment measure, aligns with KQ's focus on optimising its fleet and network plan, deemed a short to long-term strategy. As of July 2023, the airline disclosed the exit of two Boeing B737-700 and two Embraer E190 jets.

“Mono fleeting simplifies our fleet and brings more commonality to the type of airline that you fly. This helps with training and planning and reduces costs in terms of the crew you need and spare parts costs," CEO Allan Kilavuka stated then.

Kilavuka had lamented that the current Embraer was too small and thus unable to carry all the luggage needed by the airline, which is aiming to increase the capacity of its narrow-body fleet.

In 2022, KQ operated 39 aircraft, both owned and leased, including nine Boeing 787 wide-body jets, eight Boeing 737 narrow-body jets, 13 Embraer regional jets, two Boeing 737 freighters and seven Bombardier Dash 8-400 jets.

Restructuring

The gradual move to mono leasing is expected to complement KQ’s recent restructuring of lease rentals to ultimately reduce lease ownership costs.

Last year, KQ restructured lease rentals with 10 out of 12 lessors and achieved an average lease reduction of 22 per cent across the fleet. During the same period, the company agreed to extend sublease agreements for three Boeing B777-300ER craft until they were 12 years old.

KQ fleet ownership costs stood at Ksh17.6 billion in the year ended December 2022 from Ksh16.6 billion in 2021 but were lower than the Ksh28.6 billion posted at the end of 2020.

The carrier’s fleet costs include short-term lease expenses, depreciation and impairment of aircraft and related equipment, amortisation of right of use and return condition and variable lease expenses. Depreciation and amortisation made up the bulk of KQ leasing costs in the year to December.

The airline’s current fleet has an average age of 10 and is deemed to be fuel-efficient.

Okatch however told Viral Tea that the phasing out of the Embraer fleet would not happen immediately but gradually, given how a full replacement is viewed as a costly affair considering bigger Boeing planes are expensive.

To improve customer experience, some of the planes will equally be refurbished at an estimated cost of $2 million (Ksh280 million) for the big aircraft. The small ones will cost $800,000 (Ksh112 million) to facelift.

Features Of Embraer Aircraft

• Comfortable Seating: The cabin features comfortable and modern seating designed to offer a pleasant flying experience for passengers.
• Large Overhead Bins: The aircraft is equipped with spacious overhead bins to accommodate carry-on luggage for passengers.
• Quiet Cabin: The aircraft's design includes features to reduce noise levels within the cabin, enhancing passenger comfort.
• Cabin Pressure: The E190's advanced systems help maintain a comfortable cabin pressure level at higher altitudes, reducing passenger fatigue during longer flights. 

Inside a Kenya Airways Embraer E190 plane. /LIVE AND LET'S FLY

Fleet commonality can prove to be a game changer for KQ. By operating aircraft that share common parts, and other characteristics, the airline will gain more control of its training and planning while reducing operating and maintenance costs.

Although airlines rarely disclose how much they pay Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for aircraft acquisition, they get significant discounts when making large orders. Mono fleeting can also help KQ to receive bulk discounts when purchasing new aircraft.

Kenya Airways Profit

On Tuesday, August 29, Kenya Airways' profit after tax grew 120 per cent to Ksh998 million in the half-year ending July 30, compared to a loss of Ksh5 billion during a similar period last year, the first operating profit in six years.

KQ’s improved earnings are attributed to a cabin factor of 76.1 per cent, an increase in passenger numbers of 43 per cent, which represents 2.3 million in headcount over the period, as well as passenger charters and ramped-up scheduled operations.