Kenya Airways CEO Mikosz to Resign in December, 5 months before End of Contract

Kenya Airways Chief Executive Officer Sebastian Mikosz will step down from his position at the struggling state airline five months before the end of his three-year contract, according to reports by Bloomberg.

“I have made the decision to shorten my contract term and I have decided to resign on personal grounds effective Dec. 31,” Mikosz said in the letter sent to employees, without giving a reason. The CEO didn’t answer calls to his phone seeking comment.”

Bloomberg reported that Kenya Airways’ board had agreed to Mikosz’s resignation and would begin recruiting a successor, subject to regulatory approval by Capital Markets Authority.

Mikosz, who took over from Ngunze in June 2017, was picked to help in the airline’s turnaround chiefly due to his vast global experience in the aviation and airlines business.

It is under his short stint together with that of Mr. Joseph that the airline has since then slowly return back to life after a tough period and shareholders are a pleased lot.

KQ, as it is known by its international code name, last month reported a narrowed net loss earnings for the year ended December 2018 to Kes7.59 billion shillings from Kes 9.44 billion it reported the year earlier, owing to the impressive passenger bookings.

The company’s revenue in 2018 hit Sh114.18 billion, largely driven by passenger bookings. Its revenue in the previous 9-month period stood at Sh80.7 billion.

The airline’s total operating costs stood at Sh114.87 billion during the period under review compared to Sh53billion it reported in the half year ended June 2018 period which KQ, as the airline is known by its international code, blaming the rise on rising global fuel prices.

Kenya Airways has also decried increased competition from emerging carriers eating into its network, saying it will from 2019 add new routes in Europe, Middle East and Asia in an effort to counter the popular financially-backed Gulf carriers.

Meanwhile, KQ looks certain not to switch its future plane orders to Airbus following Boeing’s 737-MAX jet crisis, according to its chairman Michael Joseph, in an interview with News outlet, Reuters.

The airline, in which Air France-KLM holds a 7.8 percent stake, reported revenue of Kes114.45 billion for the 12 months to December 31, up from Kes106.17 billion a year earlier. As a result the airline will need to boost its fleet of Boeing and Embraer planes to grow its business in the face of stiff competition from rivals like Ethiopian Airlines.

“We have a plan to grow the fleet if we had the means to do that and it is both wide bodies and narrow bodies. That means the 787s, 737s and Embraers,” said Joseph while releasing the results.