Allan Kilavuka is a Kenyan businessman and corporate executive, who has served as the chief executive officer of Kenya Airways, the national airline of Kenya, since 1 April 2020. He previously served as the CEO of Jambojet, a low-cost carrier wholly owned by Kenya Airways, from January 2019 to 31 March 2020.^[1][2][3]

Background and education

Kilavuka was born in Kenya and attended local primary and secondary schools. He studied at the University of Nairobi, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce. He then went on to obtain a Certificate in Psychology from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom.^[1][3] He has also attended courses in advanced management, executive leadership and financial management at Crotonville Leadership Institute, in Westchester County, New York, United States, owned by General Electric.^[4]

Career

Before he took up his assignment with Jambojet, where his appointment was announced in November 2018,^[5] he was the head of General Electric (GE) in sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to that, he served in various capacities at GE and at Deloitte, in their sub-Saharan African businesses.^[6][7]

At Kenya Airways, he replaced Sebastian Mickosz, the Polish former chief executive, who resigned for personal reasons, before the expiry of his three-year contract.^[8] Kilavuka will now sit on all the boards of Kenya Airways subsidiary companies. He will remain at the board of Jambojet, initially as the CEO and as a representative of Kenya Airways, starting on 1 April 2020.^[9][4]

One of his first initiatives at KQ was to order a 25 percent executive pay cut for all top managers at the airline, beginning on 1 April 2020. The measure is aimed at conserving cash at the limping airline during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the same exercise, the company's board of directors will forego their board allowances during the same period.^[10]