George Kamal was not prepared to lead Kenya Airways (KQ), even on an interim basis. But when the call came on December 15 last year to take over from Allan Kilavuka, he accepted it with grace, hoping to leave the troubled airline in a better place than he found it.
He had grand ideas about turning around the airline and growing it to comfortable profitability. Although he knew it would not be easy, he was determined to attempt what several CEOs before him had failed to achieve.
Eight months later, Capt. Kamal has flown away from KQ, leaving behind an ambitious turnaround agenda he believed was within reach.
When he resigned last week, he told Business Daily that he had not given up on those ambitions, but had a personal family matter that required him to be at home in Egypt.
In an interview with Business Daily just a week before his departure, he had said his dreams for KQ were within grasp. His exit now leaves those ambitions unfinished, at least for the moment.
Dr Kamal’s stint at KQ, however short, was unique. He was the first pilot to run the airline, and one of the few career pilots to rise to the C-suite of a major carrier. At KQ, he had become the highest-ranking pilot, serving as Chief Operations Officer before taking the top job.
His path to the C-suite was unusual for a career pilot. After beginning his career as a pilot in the United States more than 30 years ago, Mr Kamal pursued a bachelor’s degree in Egypt, determined to build a life beyond the cockpit.
When the aviation industry was upended by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, while working as head of operations at Air Arabia in the United Arab Emirates, he enrolled for a Master of Science degree in Aviation Management at London Metropolitan University. He graduated in January 2023, two months before joining KQ.
He went on to obtain a PhD in Business Administration from Clermont School of Business in France, graduating in July this year.
Dr Kamal joined KQ as COO in March 2023 from Iraqi Airways, where he was Chief Executive and Operations Officer. Other than EgyptAir, where he worked as an Airbus A330 and A300/600 first officer, most of his career had been outside Africa. And part of the reason he took the KQ role was to return home.
“I am African myself, and I strongly believe in African aviation and in connecting Africa better with itself and with the rest of the world. KQ has always had an important place in African aviation, and I felt my experience could contribute to its journey,” he told Business Daily.
By the time he arrived at KQ, Dr Kamal had already built a career across several major airlines. At Etihad, he progressed from Airbus A330 first officer to Airbus A320 and Boeing 777 captain before leaving as head of quality operations and safety. He then moved to Air Arabia and later Iraqi Airways.
But it is his stint at KQ that has left the most indelible mark on him, he says. Although it lasted just over three years out of more than three decades in aviation, leaving was going to be “difficult.”
“Leaving comes with mixed feelings. Professionally, I feel proud of the journey and grateful for the trust that was placed in me. Personally, it is difficult to leave KQ, difficult to leave your family, difficult to leave a place that became home,” he said.
His stint at KQ was not an easy one. Soon after joining the carrier, he was confronted by one of its most persistent problems: a reputation for unreliability caused by flight delays and cancellations.
Dr Kamal helped streamline the carrier’s operations, with KQ recording an operating profit of Sh10.5 billion in 2023 and significantly improving its on-time performance. The airline completed at least 72 percent of its flights on time that year, overtaking arch-rival Ethiopian Airlines as Africa’s most punctual flag carrier.
In 2024, his first full year as operations lead, KQ posted a larger operating profit of Sh16.6 billion which contributed to its first net income of Sh5.4 billion after more than a decade in the red.
The national carrier plunged into a net loss of Sh17.1 billion last year. By then, Dr Kamal was facing a different challenge: keeping flights uninterrupted with 20 percent less capacity.
This year has been his most difficult assignment yet. Not only was he running the airline, but global disruptions linked to the US and Israel war on Iran compounded the problems already bedevilling KQ, pushing up costs and widening its losses.
Through the difficult days, Dr Kamal says his colleagues at KQ, who practically became his family, made an otherwise difficult job easier.
“We went through challenges, difficult days and also some great moments together. I learnt a lot, and I am proud of what we achieved as one team,” he said.
But as he exits just months shy of a year on the job, he leaves a critical question and the biggest test of his tenure unanswered: Does a career pilot make a better airline manager –and could it be what KQ needs?
Dr Kamal did not stay long enough to see through his vision for KQ. But he remains certain the airline will get there, regardless of who is at the helm.
“I will always have a special connection to Kenya Airways, and I genuinely want to see KQ continue to grow and succeed and it will,” he said.
