Kenya Airways confirms Allan Kilavuka appointment as CEO

Kenya Airways has confirmed the head of its low-cost subsidiary Allan Kilavuka as its new chief executive effective April 1.

Mr Kilavuka, a Kenyan, has held the post in acting capacity since January after the loss-making airline’s former boss Sebastian Mikosz, a Polish national, announced his resignation in the middle of a renationalisation process.

He will join the boards of all KQ subsidiary companies and will remain on the board of Jambojet, initially as CEO until March 31 and thereafter as a representative of Kenya Airways.

Kenya Airways Chairman Michael Joseph said Mr Kilavuka had, during his short stint as acting CEO, “thrown all his energy into this role, whilst still maintaining his position as chief executive of Jambojet".

“It is particularly gratifying to me that the Board agreed to support the appointment of Allan to the full role of substantive CEO,” Mr Joseph said on Thursday, while announcing the appointment.

TURNAROUND

Mr Kilavuka has led the five-year-old low-cost carrier Jambojet since January 2019.

Before that, he was General Electric’s global operations leader for Sub-Saharan Africa.

He will be charged with turning around the loss-making airline.

Kenya Airways first-half pretax loss more than doubled from a year earlier to Sh8.56 billion.

It sank into losses in 2014 after making costly aircraft purchases, which coincided with a slump in tourist and business travel to Kenya blamed on a spate of attacks by Somalia-based Islamist militants.

In July, Parliament voted a motion to nationalise listed airline Kenya Airways to save it from mounting debts that could set the stage for the buyout of minority shareholders. Mr Kilavuka holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Nairobi and a Postgraduate Certificate in Psychology from the University of Liverpool.