Airport workers' strike, ticket pay delay saves student

A strike by airport workers and an unexplained delay to book an air ticket saved the life of a university student who was due to travel from Malaysia to Kenya.

It started with the delay by her father in paying for the air ticket owing to the Civil Aviation Workers Union strike that paralysed operations at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) last week.

This was also followed by another unexpected delay by her daughter in Malaysia to remit money to the Ethiopian airline despite making reservations.

And these developments could have kept Sheilah Jepchirchir, 19, from the ill-fated flight that crashed on Sunday.

She was supposed to travel back to their home in Cheptiret in Uasin Gishu County, for the vacation on the same day the Ethiopian plane crashed six minutes after take-off from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.

Her parents kept pressuring her, wondering why she had not taken the necessary steps to ensure that she travels on March 9 so that she could arrive home over the weekend.

But Chepchirchir, who spoke on phone from Malaysia, said something held her back from making payments despite receiving money from her father through Western Union.

“I had mixed feelings over the travel plans and this is unlike me. I had missed home and longed to be with my family after staying abroad for close to a year undertaking studies at Asia Pacific University. However, I was lethargic in sending money to the airline after I had made reservations,” she said.

She added: “My friends had advised me that bookings during weekends were a bit expensive and insisted that I would rather pay during the week when the fares are considerably low despite the fact that I had already packed my luggage. Surprisingly, the constant reminders from the airline in my email did not change anything in regard to my lateness in securing a seat, I just brushed it off, something that was strange to me.”