Karanja Ndegwa Appointed Jambojet’s acting Managing Director

Jambojet, the low-cost carrier and a subsidiary of Kenya Airways, has appointed Karanja Ndegwa as its new managing director in an acting capacity from May 1, 2020.

Ndegwa, the airline’s chief financial officer replaces Allan Kilavuka who is now Kenya Airways CEO.

“We are grateful that Ndegwa has accepted to continue serving as the Chief Financial Officer even as he takes on the new role of acting Managing Director,” Chairman, Board of Directors Vincent Rague said on Monday.

Ndegwa, an Economics and Statistics graduate from the University of Nairobi has over 20 years of experience in the aviation industry.12 of these years have been in leadership positions of leadership.

He is also a Certified Public Accountant.

He has worked at Kenya Airways in different capacities, rising to the position of Manager – Revenue Accounting. He served as the Head of Finance at Jambojet, before being appointed the Chief Financial Officer of the airline in 2016.

Ndegwa has been instrumental in Jambojet growth, setting up the finance organization during Jambojet’s inception and has been involved in strategy development and implementation. His key strengths are in financial planning and reporting, airline business/commercial strategy, capacity building, strategic management and revenue management.

The new MD takes over at a time when the spread of COVID-19 has seen a significant reduction in airline passengers.

As of April 6, KQ and Jambojet had grounded planes and cut on frequencies as coronavirus effects bite.

In March the airline decided to suspend its services to Kigali, Rwanda and Entebbe, Uganda.

But resolved to still operate flights to Malindi, Ukunda, Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret.

The aviation and tourism industry is the hardest hit by the effects of the pandemic.

KQ, for instance, has turned four passenger planes into cargo planes as a way of keeping the already struggling company afloat post coronavirus.