Kenya Airways (KQ) on Monday named the managing director of budget airline Jambojet Allan Kilavuka as its acting chief executive until a substantive replacement is found.

The chief executive's position fell vacant after Sebastian Mikosz resigned in May for personal reasons. Mikosz's departure takes effect at the end of this month.

Kilavuka will assume office on January 1, 2020, according to a statement released by the KQ board.

"Allan will also continue his role as Chief Executive Officer of Jambojet during the interim period of recruitment," the statement read.

KQ also sought to assure stakeholders that the process to recruit a suitable successor was ongoing.

"The board wishes to emphasise that the recruitment for a substantive Chief Executive Officer with the necessary experience and knowledge was initiated upon the announcement of Sebastian Mikosz's decision to leave the airline at the end of 2019. The process is still actively on-going and the Board will inform all our stakeholders one a suitable candidate has been identified."

KQ chairman Michael Joseph welcomed the appointment of Kilavuka saying that he looked forward to his leadership and contributions during this transition period.

Kilavuka, who has over 23 years of experience in leadership and management, has previously served as Executive for global operations at General Electric (GE) Africa.

KQ, Kenya's national carrier, has endured a difficult period in recent years. In August, the airline said it pretax loss of 8.56 billion Kenyan shillings ($82.95 million) in the first half of 2019, compared with a loss of 3.99 billion shillings in the same period last year.

Source(s): Business Daily, Kenya Airways