Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam, who is credited with the meteoric rise of the carrier to Africa’s largest, has resigned over health issues.

The long-serving chief executive has been receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness in the United States for the past five months. He had been at the airline for 37 years.

“Under my current health issues and medical treatment I am not able to return to the office any time soon,” he told the airline’s staff in a letter seen by The EastAfrican on Wednesday.

“Hence, I decided to retire early and focus on my medical treatment.”

“My resignation request to the government has been accepted,” he said.

Mr Tewolde has been at the helm of the most profitable airline on the continent for 11 years, growing its fleet from just 50 aircraft in 2015 to 130 planes flying on local, regional and international routes.

The State-owned carrier was established in 1945 as a joint venture with now-defunct US carrier Trans World Airlines.

Mr Tewolde joined the airline in 1985 as a transport agent and rose through the ranks, having served in cargo, sales and advertising, among others, to CEO in January 2011.

Fast growth

“Together, we have (made) history in the last decade in which we have grown the airline from $1 billion annual turnover to $4.5 billion, from 33 airplanes to 130 airplanes, (and) from three million passengers to 12 million passengers (pre-Covid), and in general we have expanded the airline by four-fold in all measurements,” he recounted in his letter.

The meteoric rise saw the airline revise its 2010 15-year strategic plan to more than double its fleet to 120 planes and become Africa's largest airline by 2025 after it hit the target earlier.

“We have expanded more than we planned,” he told Reuters in an interview in 2018. “We had to revise the objective to make it 150 airplanes or more by 2025.”

The carrier is setting up a presence in more than six African countries through a management role or strategic partnership with the local carriers, making it the dominant player in the continent.

Air transport contributed $4.2 billion to Ethiopia’s GDP in 2019 and its aviation sector, which directly employed 19,000 people, supported more than 1.3 million jobs across the wider economy, according to the International Air Transport Association, IATA.

Illustrious career

Mr Tewolde’s successful career has earned accolades including “African Executive of the Year” and “Best African Business Leader”.

He has also received the Regional Airline Leadership Award, the most Gender-focused CEO award, and Most Influential People of African Descent.

He has also served in various local and global boards including in IATA, African Travel Association (ATA) and Ethiopian Tourism Organisation (ETO).

He was also a member of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) and was part of the United Nations high-level advisory team on sustainable transport.

For two consecutive years, 2019 and 2020, he was named in the 100 most influential Africans.

Mr Tewolde holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Addis Ababa University and a master's in business administration from Open University in the United Kingdom.

He also received an honorary doctorate from Addis Ababa University in July 2019.

The government is yet to announce his replacement.

- Additional reporting by Hellen Githaiga.