IT IS EVERYONE’S FAULT BUT HIS OWN AS KENYA AIRWAYS APPROACHES RELEASE OF FULL YEAR FIGURES
(Posted 15th April 2019)
(Sebastian Mikosz seemingly saying: ‘It is all their fault’ …)
Sebastian Mikosz, perhaps setting the stage for his exit, has taken to lashing out against the airline’s pilots, the airline’s staff, the airline’s contract with the Kenya Airports Authority – an institution he tried to raid unsuccessfully for their cash and to evade having to pay billions of Shillings in outstanding bills – and against aircraft lease deals entered into in the past.
For good measure he also threw a punch in the direction of SAATM, the African Union’s continental aviation accord, to which Kenya initially signed on but has failed to operationalise until now, reportedly as the behest of Kenya Airways.
Having all but admitted recently that without the KAA cash he would not know how to rescue the airline and turn around its fortunes, is his latest broadside now seen as the kicks of a dying horse, having run out of ideas, vision and facing the prospect of having to explain at the next AGM why his turnaround plan has failed to produce the promised results.
Mikosz allegation that Ethiopian Airlines in 2010 was half the size of Kenya Airways earned him incredulity among the aviation sector and aviation pundits and sheds yet more light on to his frame of mind at this moment in time which now resembles a ‘Wagenburg’ mentality.
With losses for the first half of the financial year 2018 in the 4 billion Shillings range and expected to rise further when the full year results are finally announced – this year unusually late – are all eyes now on him and his next moves with rising speculation he may quit before his reputation as a company turnaround specialist takes further knocks.
The Kenyan government meanwhile seems to have shelved plans to go ahead with the ill conceived merger of the airline and the Kenya Airport Authority, which by the look of it would have given KQ a temporary relief through the cash kitty of KAA but would very likely have set the airport authority on the road towards financial starvation as the fees due under the deal would only be a fraction of the money KAA makes right now – and which income helps subsidize secondary and tertiary airports under the KAA administration across Kenya. It would also have impacted greatly on expansion plans for Malindi and Ukunda airports, both seen as hugely important for the tourism industry.
Be all that as it may, it seems there are more hard times ahead for KQ’s shareholders and in particular the banks, which were bullied to convert loans into equity two years ago. They will no doubt be closely monitoring the development of the share values and the impact of yet more losses before they might very well get together and eventually impose their own solution on this long running crisis.
