Kenya Airways will not be saved by planes alone. It will be saved by judgment under pressure. In aviation, the true test of leadership is not how you take off, but how you recover when the sky refuses you.
Yesterday, aboard Kenya Airways from Lusaka, I experienced what passengers rarely forget. As we descended toward Nairobi, the captain attempted to land twice, but the weather refused us. Then came the powerful, scary surge from near landing back to full engine thrust. The cabin fell into a tense silence filled with quiet prayers and anxious glances. Eventually, we diverted to Mombasa to refuel. Some passengers, assuming they had arrived at Mombasa, hoped to disembark, only to learn that an emergency landing is not an arrival but a temporary refuge. Others anxiously calculated missed connections to Entebbe and Lagos. It was a powerful reminder that in aviation, delays are not always failures. Sometimes it is discipline.
That moment took me back to 1993, when I delivered to President Moi a message from President Sam Nujoma confirming approval for Kenya Airways to fly directly to Windhoek. Two days ago, while returning from Zambia, I reflected that Lusaka just got a direct link to Windhoek. More than three decades later, the lesson remains unchanged. Systems create progress.
Roads connect land. Ports move trade. Airlines connect time, trust, talent and opportunity. Africa’s challenge is not a lack of talent or resources. It is the systems that connect its people and markets.
This is why the new Kiprono Kittony-led Kenya Airways board, whom I congratulate, matters. Kenya Airways is more than just an airline. It is a vital part of the nation’s economic flow. Kenya’s aviation sector reportedly adds about KSh425 billion to the economy and supports nearly half a million jobs. Kenya Airways alone transports 5.2 million passengers out of roughly 9 million who visit Kenya each year through Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the main gateway into East Africa. Our national carrier is therefore not just a side story at the airport. It is the core of trade, tourism, cargo, diplomacy, and national confidence.
My advice to the new board is straightforward. Stay clear of three emergency landings.
The first problem is having the wrong type of chief executive. In bad weather, nobody looks for a popular leader. They want a proven one. Aviation is an international industry that demands deep operational expertise. Kenya Airways now needs leadership that understands airline recovery from within the cockpit, the control room, the network desk, and the maintenance hangar. This is not the time for fancy theories; it is the time for relevant, proven operational leadership. Africa has already seen how long it takes to rebuild a national carrier once confidence is lost.
The second emergency landing is separating the airport from the airline. They are one system. A modern airport without a strong home carrier may look busy but remains vulnerable when geopolitical tensions or foreign airlines shift global routes. Leading hubs such as Dubai, Doha, Singapore, Amsterdam, and Atlanta thrive because their airports and national airlines strengthen each other.
The third emergency landing is failing to make citizens, workers, investors, and the government see Kenya Airways as a shared national asset. When aviation is viewed only as transportation, labor disputes become easier, policies become careless, and partnerships turn transactional. But when the country understands that this airline transports flowers, meat, farmers, tourists, investors, ideas, and the value of our natural heritage, the conversation shifts. This can support households, not just conferences.
As I have repeatedly said, leadership does not create value. It protects, enables, or destroys it. The new board must stabilize first, restore reliability, and align ambition with real capacity. If they succeed, Kenya Airways will not merely recover. It will show that when a nation protects the systems that connect its people to the world, prosperity follows. Think green. Act green.
