Kuwait Airways has appointed Ebrahim Abdullah Al-Khuzam to replace Rasha Al-Roumi after her unexpected departure last month.
Formerly general manager of telco m operator Zain, Al-Khuzam had been newly named as a board member in the wake of Al-Roumi’s resignation.
Al-Roumi resigned as CEO in April, citing “lack of government backing” and preferential treatment to other carriers in the country.
The only female airline CEO in the Arab World during her tenure, Al-Roumi was appointed in 2014. She had been pursuing an ambitious plan to turn around one of the Middle East’s oldest carriers, after two decades of tumbling profits left its owners considering selling off the airline.
In a heated letter announcing her resignation, Al-Roumi said the government had refused to honour a $1.9 billion (KD 600 million) payment it had had earlier pledged to, and provided preferential treatment to another domestic competitor, according to the Kuwait Times.