The Chief Operating Officer at Kenya Airways, Jan De Vegt, has resigned from his position after serving for three years.
Jan De Vegt announced his resignation on twitter saying, “Kenya Airways decided to stop all support by KLM. For this reason, I am returning to Amsterdam. I very much appreciated your feedback and our discussions on this medium. Thanks for that! As there will be no COO in KQ from now on, I will close this account. Until we meet again!”
According to the official, Kenya Airways decided to stop any support from its Dutch partner KLM. As a result, the five KLM staff members who worked at KQ plan to return to the Netherlands. However, Jan De Vegt said that the joint venture between Kenya Airways and KLM remains.
The Chief Operating Officer was appointed to the position in August 2016 to replace Yves Guibert who served in the role for less than two years. The troubled air carrier has seen some of its top management leave including the CEO who announced his resignation in May.
Jan De Vegt’s abrupt departure from KQ indicates a strained relationship between the Kenyan Airline and its Dutch partner KLM where Jan previously worked.
Kenya Airways entered a joint venture with KLM in 1995 when the European airline bought a 26 per cent stake in KQ. After a restructuring process in 2017, KLM’s ownership in the Kenyan firm declined to 13 per cent. At the start of 2018, the two carriers signed an agreement to partner in their flights to and from Europe and East Africa.
Kenya Airways will now run without a Chief Operating Officer until they get a replacement for Jan De Vegt.