Missed Bullet: How Kenya Airways almost lost chief executive Allan Kilavuka to South African Airways

March 3, 2025 in Companies by Editor

Kenya Airways group chief executive officer Allan Kilavuka, was passed over for the C-suite at South African Airways, even though he had emerged as the best candidate in interviews for the position. The Swiss aviation data and intelligence platform ch-Aviation reports that the decision by the SAA board to retain John Lamola who has ran the airline since 2022 as SAA’s Group CEO, had ruffled feathers with the opposition Democratic Alliance saying the appointment was driven by political patronage.

Quoting local media, ch-aviation reported that while Lamola had been given the job, the SAA board preferred Allan Kilavuka, who had been the highest-scoring candidate in interviews.

The Democratic Alliance now wants the South African cabinet to reject Lamola’s appointment.

Apparently, the odds turned against Kilavuka because he was a not a South African national and there had been fears that there would be challenges getting security clearances for him.

While Kilavuka had been preferred because of his role in Kenya Airways protracted pull back from the brink after he took the reins in December 2019, Lamola’s equally successful stewardship of SAA after its relaunch in 2022, spoke for him. As interim CEO, Lamola has superintended the stabilisation of SAA, achieved financial stability, and grown the carrier’s route network.