A succession plan that was drafted by senior officials at State House, with the approval of President Uhuru Kenyatta, was shared with Kalpa’s leadership before details of the pact were discussed with pilots at the lobby’s head office on Monday afternoon last week.

Chief of Staff Joseph Kinyua and Solicitor General Njee Muturi, two of the President’s closest advisers, led the negotiations with the pilots. Further, representatives of the airline’s other biggest shareholder – Air France-KLM – will be in town attending a board meeting this week to approve the leadership changes, including the resignation of Ambassador Dennis Awori as board chairman.

It is envisaged that the newly-appointed chief operations officer, Jan de Vegt, will take up the daily operations of the airline while a substantive chief executive is sought. Mr Vegt, a Dutch national who arrived at KQ in July, would take up a bigger role beyond daily operations to include management of the airline’s finances, according to the secret deal.

At the same time, the Government yesterday started the process of recruiting a consultant that will advice it on the restructuring and turnaround of Kenya Airways. In a statement, the Ministry of Transport said it urgently needed an independent technical advisor that would advice the Government on how to go around ensuring that KQ is back on its feet. “...there is need and urgent of an independent technical advisor to advice the Government on all aspects of the restructuring transaction and turnaround strategy of an organisation,” said the Ministry in a notice inviting technical advisors to bid for the job.