In nine years that he has been at the helm of Kenya Airways, Titus Naikuni has rubbed many people the wrong way, but he has always delivered

By JACKSON OKOTH

It was one sunny morning four years ago when I hurriedly left the newsroom together with a photographer and a TV crew from I&M Town offices. The docket was reading - a press conference at KQ head offices, located at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

After a painful manoeuvre through the traffic on Mombasa Road, we reached KQ offices, but arrived 10 minutes after the scheduled 10am meeting.

“I run an airline business that depends on a strict time schedule and that is why I have to move to the next item on my diary — which is an inspection of the hangers,” said Titus Naikuni, the Chief Executive Officer at the Kenya Airways.

With that he stood up and pulled off the wireless microphones from his coat and left the press conference room, as the few media teams that had already arrived at the venue, watched in utter disbelief.

I had to literally run after Naikuni on a section of the JKIA runway as he hurriedly gave me comments on questions concerning a KQ rights issue, which had just closed.

While I have attended several KQ press briefings after that and even had a one-on-one interview, it is the memory of Naikuni during this incident that has left a lasting impression on me, a no-nonsense man, not shy of speaking out his mind, articulate views and well versed in matters aviation.

Mr Naikuni is known for his biting remarks and sarcasm, particularly when shooting down reporters’ questions when he feels they are ill informed or ambiguous. One time a reporter asked him when Pride Centre, the airline’s training and simulation facility, would open yet it was already operational. “Pride Centre is already open, in fact it is old, it needs paint,” remarked Naikuni.

Last man standing

Born in November 1953, Titus Tukero Naikuni - a tall, fine-featured man and wears dark-rimmed glasses, attended Cardinal Maurice Otunga High School in Kisii. After this, he studied mechanical engineering at the University of Nairobi and began his career in 1979, as a trainee engineer at the Magadi Soda Company, rising to become Managing Director. He is married to Josephine and they have four children. He is the last man standing in a select team of World Bank sponsored Kenyan technocrats, known as the ‘Dream Team’ e engaged by the Government to turn around the economy in the late 1990s.

Naikuni is considered one of the most visible CEOs and can be described as eccentric and flamboyant, having been chief executive and managing director of the airline for over one decade since his appointment in February 2003.

As his contract comes to a close in February 2015, Naikuni’s scorecard is full of distinctions including pushing for a modern and fuel-efficient KQ fleet, delivery of the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner that is due in March 2014.

He is also credited with cutting down KQ’s bloated staff, an action that attracted uproar from politicians, labour unions and the civil society.

“I am thinking of playing some golf upon my retirement from this job,” Naikuni told a recent investor briefing, a statement that sent a message that indeed one of the most powerful captains of industry, is about to climb down the corporate ladder.

His posh retirement home in plush leafy suburbs in Kiserian fitted, complete with a spacious swimming pool with sauna and other fixtures and fittings, all fit for a retiring king.

Still, before he rides off into that sunset, this publication looks at some of the unflattering truths about Naikuni’s tenure at KQ, the key reason he has defied political gravity for so long and why he is leaving the corporate scene with all his credentials intact.

On the list of one of the worst times for KQ, under Naikuni’s watch, was during the height of the Euro Zone crisis. This is when deep recession in Europe hit the Kenyan shoreline, washing away KQ’s fortunes. The airline depends on the European market for more than one third of its revenues. Therefore, a depressed demand for travel from Europe severely dented its business that year.

“While China is growing and USA showing marked improvement, Europe is sluggish and has been stagnant for the last two years,” Naikuni told a hushed group of shareholders staring at the prospect of a zero dividend payout. In the financial year ending March 31st, 2013, KQ experienced a reduction in passenger traffic and had to cut down on capacity offered into Europe by 22 per cent to minimise losses occasioned by low seat occupancy.

Growth potential

KQ has also had to cut down its staff numbers considerably at a time when it is also recruiting new pilots to keep its expanding fleet airborne.

This decision has not only angered the union, but the political class as well. It was during one of the sessions with the parliamentary watchdog, in charge of the transport docket, that Naikuni appeared to have rubbed the committee the wrong way, drawing their wrath due to the presence of a large legal team from KQ.

 With an impressive academic and corporate background, Naikuni appeared to effortlessly explain the airline’s retrenchment programme to the committee. In the end, a potentially explosive labour dispute at KQ was diffused.

Industry insiders blame the management at KQ for loss of dominance in West Africa routes to international airlines from the gulf region. The most dominant player on this route remains Ethiopian airlines with huge connections from Europe to Africa.  Naikuni is also known for his abrasive personality and little patience with those who do not appear to grasp the intricate nature of running an international airline business.

His critics usually fault his cruel cost cutting strategy mostly applied to keep the airline afloat during tough times. Now that the airline is taking delivery of new hardware, it will be another cycle of hiring after long periods of downsizing.

Almost all past chief executives of KQ have been on a cost-cutting mode, a method that Naikuni has perfected during his period at the helm.

Is Naikuni the man to continue to lead Kenya Airways through the coming period of political and economic turbulence? “No. I don’t think that someone should stay in a job like mine for more than ten years or so,” he replied in press briefing.

“So I am consciously planning my exit, to include helping to choose my successor,” he added.