Former Kenya Airways Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka walked away from the national carrier with a pay package of Sh131 million.
This amount is inclusive of his pension and benefits and was revealed by the airline in its latest annual report.
In the report, Kilavuka’s 2025 compensation is seen to have risen by 77 percent from the Sh74 million that he had pocketed in the previous 2024 financial year.
His basic pay was Sh55.6 million while pension and benefits amounted to an extra 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 national carrier stated in the report.
Kilavuka left Kenya Airways after serving as the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for a period of six years. His exit was announced by the national carrier on December 16, 2025.
Following his exit, Kenya Airways has appointed Captain George Kamal as the acting Managing Director and chief executive officer. Mr. Kamal has been serving as the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO).
Kilavuka left the airline as the first CEO in over a decade to see the carrier return a profit, a fete that was achieved in 2024 when Kenya Airways made its first net profit of Sh5.4 billion for the first time in over eleven years.
In that year, KQ also recorded the highest revenue, passenger numbers and freight volumes in its history.
“It has been an extraordinary six-year journey. I am genuinely proud and continually amazed by how much we have accomplished as one team. Together, we have transformed our airline into a resilient, respected and award-winning airline,” he had said.
Kilavuka’s final year, though, was one of the most challenging for the airline, with an annual net loss of Sh17.2 billion.
The national carrier blamed this heavy loss on the grounding of its wide body Dreamliner planes that were due for engine overhauls.
“Overall performance and operations in the year 2025 were severely impacted primarily by the temporary grounding of three of the wide body fleet, Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. This was driven by the global supply chain constraints and limited engine availability,” Kenya Airways had said in a statement.
In that full year, total income fell by 14.3 percent to Sh161.5 billion. Total assets increased by 2.3 percent to Sh183.2 billion while non-current assets went up by 3.1 percent to Sh141.8 billion. Total liabilities went up by 6. percent to Sh315.3 billion.
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During the 2025 financial year, Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) declined by 18 percent to 13,349 million, while passenger numbers dropped by 13 percent.
“While our financial performance reflects a challenging year, it is important to recognize that this was driven primarily by global supply chain disruptions and not a lack of demand,” said Kenya Airways Chairman, Kiprono Kittony.
The national carrier had already issued a profit warning to shareholders following a challenging year in which it recorded a half year net loss of Sh12.15 billion.
