Why Kenya Airways is in Safe Hands and on the Right Track

Success is not about failing once, remaining on the ground and start mourning about it. Success is about moving from one failure to another until you achieve that which you are looking for. It is about falling down several times, but managing to collect oneself each time you fall and move on towards it; success.

A lot has been said about Kenya Airways. From the mainstream media to the social media, from words in the streets to the secretive words in people’s rooms. A lot has been said and still, a lot is being said. Many of the sentiments that have been flowing around, about the Pride of Africa, are negative as well as biased sentiments with no one single soul stopping to think and give credit where it is due.

The truth is Kenya Airways has had a share of its own problems. The airline has been through storm. It is not out of the woods yet but it is on the right track and most recently, in the right hands. There is a philosopher who once said that if you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl but don’t just sit there.

During the release of Half-Year financial results for Kenya Airways, it emerged that the airline is coming up and that it is coming up fast and the way things are, the dream of it coming back to profitability in the next six to 12 months is valid.

As the results were released, the airline had posted an operating profit of 0.9 billion shillings for the six months that had ended September 2016. This was a remarkable improvement from an operating loss of 2.2 billion shillings that had been realized in the year 2015. The cabin factor grew by 3.3 percent, passenger numbers increased by 89,000 to 2.2 million, direct operating cost reduced by 3.5 percent to 54.9 billion shillings while the number of hours flown during this period were 9 percent more than the same period last year.

Recently, the airline appointed Michael Joseph, a veteran executive in the telecoms as its new chairman and this is where Kenya Airways now lands in the right hands. His appointment is what led to the pilots, who had announced their strike to call it off, a first sign of confidence that they have in him.

In an interview with one of the business newspapers in Kenya, Michael Joseph once remarked, I would love to do more for Kenya but NOT as a politician. Lecturing would be great, but I have yet to be asked. This was shortly after he had exited the giant telecommunication, Safaricom as its Chief Executive Officer, CEO.

Michael Joseph’s story at Safaricom is a successful story. While at the helm of the company, he made sure that it was the dominant telecommunication, largest revenue earner, bigger employer to thousands of Kenyans through MPESA agents as well as being the only firm that posts crazy profits. Ever since he exited and succeeded with Bob Collymore, Safaricom still rocks the economic world, moving from one success story to another, moving from one innovation to another and making sure that the customer is at the center of every product.

In one of the interview with the Business Daily, when he was asked about what drives him, Michael Joseph said, I am very ambitious, competitive and firmly believe in doing the very best you can. I believe that we are all given great opportunities in life and it is up to us to take these opportunities and use them for the benefit of our fellow man.

This ambitious man is the one now in charge of Kenya Airways. He is the new chairman. A lot on expectations are on him. He may not deliver as instant as many people are expecting but within the next few months, Kenya Airways will be rocking again as the young people say, watch this space for the next success story of Kenya Airways. I am not a Jewish prophet, neither am I related to one but I can confidently say that Kenya Airways is coming back and it is coming back fast.

Read: Kenya Airways Shares up 6.5 Percent after Pilots Suspend Strike