Kenya Airways board has named Allan Kilavuka acting CEO of the national carrier until a substantive boss is recruited.
Allan is the current CEO for Jambojet. He is expected to take over from Sebastian Mikosz who will exit this month.
“The board of Kenya Airways Plc wishes to announce that effective January 1, 2020, Allan Kilavuka…has been appointed to take on the role of acting Chief Executive Officer of Kenya Airways until a substantive CEO for Kenya Airways has been recruited and appointed,” the airline said in a letter on Monday.
The letter signed by company secretary Catherine Musakali, on behalf of the board, was addressed to the Nairobi Securities Exchange CEO Geoffrey Odundo.
Kilavuka has agreed to hold brief for the national carrier which has faced operational turbulence for the last five years, which it has been reporting loses.
Allan has over 22 years of working experience, He is currently the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Jambojet.
He started his career at Deloitte and then General Electric Company where he held various senior leadership positions in their Sub Saharan Africa businesses before joining Jambojet.
Kilavuka has extensive experience in strategy, business development, business process improvement, financial leadership and strategy, people leadership, offshoring, controllership & compliance, business start ups, process design and Financial Planning & Analysis.
He has operated throughout Africa and has vast experience in doing business in Africa.
Mikosz, the man from Poland, announced his exit in May, three months after MPs stopped a proposed take over of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by Kenya Airways.
The former president and CEO of LOT Polish Airline, one of the oldest airlines in the world, was hired on May 4, 2017.
His more than 20 years of professional experience in managing private and public firms was touted as the experience needed to steer KQ out of financial turbulence.
He leaves, having thrown in the towel, with his rescue plans having failed to turn the company around.
The December 31, 2019 exit date is five months earlier than the end of his three-year contract.
Additional reporting done by MARTIN MWITA