Ambassador Dennis Awori has resigned as the Kenya Airways board chairman and director, and has been replaced by Safaricom founding CEO
Michael Joseph.
Transport CS James Macharia said Joseph's experience will help restore the troubled airline's pride. He noted he took Safaricom from a subscriber base of 18,000 to 17 million in a period of just 10 years.
Macharia said in a statement on Wednesday that
Awori will be remembered for his leadership and dedication.
"Despite all the intense and critical media and public scrutiny KQ's board and management has undergone since last year, Awori leaves the chairmanship proud of what he achieved," he said.
"When he took on the role in November 2015, he had no illusions about the immensity, complexity and gravity of the task that awaited the board. KQ had suffered the worst loss ever and this was buffed by intense competition and loss of confidence by the Kenyan people."
He added that they left the national carrier with potential to return to its rightful place as the 'Pride of Africa'.
Awori's woes began early in June when the airlines pilots demanded his sacking over failure to implement a return to work formula.
The Kenya Airline Pilots Association had demanded the sacking of Alex Avedi,
director of safety, security and quality; human resource director Alban Mwenda and flight operations director Captain Paul Mwangi as part of the KALPA-KQ deal signed to end the April strike.
The strike was called off on April 28, following intervention by Macharia who asked the pilots for a month to resolve the airline's problems.
But Kalpa has put Kenya Airways to task over the last several months, with demands for the resignation of bosses including chief executive Mbuvi Ngunze.
The association said the team cannot revive the airline, whose operations have been paralysed by workers strikes and technical hitches that have seen flights cancelled.
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