ACTING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ALLAN KILAVUKA, has been appointed for Kenya Airways. This followed the resignation of the incumbent in May. The airline has been trailed by losses. The new CEO was the head of Kenya Airways subsidiary carrier, Jambojet, as CEO for about a year.
He will combine the role of CEOs Kenya Airways, and the subsidiary carrier, Jambojet, till substantive CEO is appointed for Kenyan Airways. Sebastian Mikosz, the departing CEO, said in May, he would leave the airline by end of the year for personal reasons. He led the airline since June 2017.
Kenya Airways, in August, reported a first-half, before tax loss of 8.56 billion Kenyan shillings ($83 million). More than double, a year earlier loss. The airline flies to 54 destinations around the world, majority of which are in Africa.
Kenyan lawmakers, in July, voted for the State to take back the airline. The government of Kenya owned 48.9%, while Air France-KLM has 7.8% holdings in the airline. Kenya Airways was privatized over 20 years ago. But sank into debt and losses in 2014, after failed expansion initiative, among other factors, according to the airline.
An investment analyst, at Kenya’s Standard Investment Bank, Lisa Kimathi said “The nationalization process is still ongoing and the airline can’t be left with a leadership vacuum. Kilavuka [new CEO] is definitely experienced on the operations of Kenya Airways.”
The five-year-old low-cost carrier, Jambojet, was led by Kilavuka, since January 2019. He was, also, General Electric’s global operations leader for sub-Saharan Africa.
Kenya Airways plans to emulate the success model of state-owned Ethiopian Airlines, sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest airline.
