Former Kenya Airways chief executive officer Allan Kilavuka walked away with a final compensation of Sh131 million, including pension and other benefits, when he exited the national carrier on December 15, 2025.
Mr Kilavuka’s exit pay has been disclosed by KQ, as the airline is known by its international code, in its latest annual report.
His compensation in 2025 marked a 77 percent increase over the Sh74 million he earned in the prior year.
In his last year, he was paid a basic salary of Sh55.6 million, and pension and other benefits of Sh75.3 million.
“Pensions and other benefits include terminal benefits amounting to Sh15 million and other contractual obligations [of] Sh48 million that arose in the year 2025,” the company said of Mr Kilavuka’s non-salary pay package.
His basic salary was slightly higher in 2024 at Sh58.4 million, partly because he served for only half of December 2025.
His pension and other benefits were smaller in 2024 at Sh15.6 million as some of his accrued emoluments and contractual benefits were released at the end of his term.
Difficult time
Mr Kilavuka was replaced in an acting capacity by George Kamal on December 16, 2025. Mr Kilavuka took over the reins of KQ in April 2020 after the departure of Polish national Sebastian Mikosz.
He stepped into the role as the Covid-19 pandemic was spreading in Kenya and the rest of the world, handing the aviation sector its most challenging operating environment in recent history.
The pandemic led to restrictions in local and international travel for more than a year as governments took measures to contain the disease that killed more than seven million people worldwide.
Airlines are estimated to have made a staggering net loss of $118.5 billion globally in 2020, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
KQ performance
KQ posted a record net loss of Sh36.2 billion in the same year as revenues collapsed due to the travel restrictions.
“Allan took over this role right at the beginning of a very difficult time for Kenya Airways and the aviation industry in general. He has managed to navigate the airline through these turbulent times and keep the planes flying through a string of measures and initiatives,” the company said.
KQ’s finances continued to deteriorate, and the firm set a new record net loss of Sh38.2 billion in 2022. It broke the string of losses in 2024 when it posted a net income of Sh5.4 billion as revenues rose and finance costs fell.
The national carrier slipped back into a net loss of Sh17.1 billion last year as sales declined and costs increased.
The company is weighed down by a heavy debt load and faces increased competition from well-funded foreign carriers, making it difficult to chart a profitable path.
The government, as the airline’s top shareholder, has for years weighed various options to wean the company off the taxpayer’s purse, but none of the choices has been implemented, including bringing in a strategic investor.
The National Treasury has continued to offer financial support to the airline whose assets are dwarfed by its liabilities.
Turnaround plans
The exit of Mr Kilavuka was part of the overhaul of KQ’s top leadership, with long-serving chairman Michael Joseph having retired earlier on June 13, 2025.
Mr Joseph in 2018 helped craft a plan to merge the operations of KQ and the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), seeking to cement Nairobi’s status as a regional transport hub while repairing the national carrier’s balance sheet.
The proposal sought to emulate the operations of KQ’s rivals, including State-owned Ethiopian Airlines and Emirates Group, which have relied on their government’s backing to expand their reach.
KQ was to take over all the staff and operations of the country’s busiest airport in a move that was to expand its services to include ground handling, maintenance, catering, warehousing and cargo.
The government was to further support the joint venture by exempting it from certain taxes and allowing it to retain several levies.
The State later took steps to nationalise the airline, a disclosure that led to the suspension of trading in the company’s shares on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) for nearly five years from July 3, 2020.
The shares resumed trading on January 6, 2025 after an intervention by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), which noted that there was no plan to proceed with the nationalisation of the company.
KQ’s stock has attracted speculators reacting to various announced strategies to rescue the airline.
