Kenya Airways acting CEO quits

Captain George Kamal will remain at the airline for a 30-day transition period before his formal exit on September 30, 2026. [Courtesy]

Kenya Airways' (KQ) acting chief executive, George Kamal, has resigned from the carrier for what the airline said were personal reasons.

He was appointed to the helm of the national carrier in December last year following the exit of Alan Kilavuka.

KQ yesterday said the board had appointed Habil Waswani also in an acting capacity.

In a statement, KQ board Chairman Kiprono Kittony also said the airline had started a process to recruit a substantive chair that will be concluded in the “near term”.

Waswani, whose appointment is effective September 15, is KQ’s company secretary and director of legal services and regulatory compliance.

“George Kamal will be transitioning from his role as the acting group managing director and chief executive officer. During his tenure, he brought extensive aviation expertise to bear in stabilising the airline’s operations and successfully steered the company through the most recent executive leadership,” said Kittony, adding that Kamal could continue to be in service at the airline for a transitory period of 30 days.

Kamal had since 2023 been serving as KQ’s chief operations officer before taking over leadership from Kilavuka late last year. He is an aviator, with nearly three decades of experience working with Middle Eastern and African carriers, including Air Arabia, Iraqi Airways, Etihad and EgyptAir. He started as a pilot and later transitioned into the C-suite.

In the statement, Kittony said Waswani is a decorated lawyer whose career spans senior corporate governance roles across leading banking and insurance institutions and a multiple recipient of the Legal 500GC Powerlist East Africa since 2004.

“Mr Waswani is a distinguished corporate and commercial legal practitioner with over 24 years of multisectoral experience and more than five years of service at the airline,” said Kittony.

He added that KQ had embarked on the process of recruiting a substantive chief executive.

“The board has initiated a competitive recruitment process for a substantive CEO, which is expected to conclude in the near term. As communicated during the recent investors' brief, the board remains firmly focused on executing the airline’s turnaround strategy, centred on operational reliability, network and fleet optimisation, sustainability, growth and identification of a suitable strategic investor,” Kittony said.

Last week, the airline reported a loss of Sh16 billion over the first half of this year, which had widened from Sh12 billion it reported over a similar period last year. It attributed the deeper loss to higher fuel costs following the war in the Middle East, as well as delays in acquiring engines and spare parts due to global shortages that resulted in the grounding of some of its aircraft.