Uganda Airlines: The architecture of a turnaround

What the report says

Uganda Airlines is being repositioned under acting chief executive Ato Girma Wake, who took over about five months ago, according to commentary published by The Independent Uganda. The piece says he inherited an airline with long-haul ambitions but weak regional support, grounded aircraft, and a heavy reliance on wet-leased planes to keep flights operating.

The article’s central theme is that the carrier is trying to fix reliability before expanding further. It reports that nearly 60% of the fleet capacity was unavailable when Wake arrived, and that maintenance work on aircraft and engines is expected to bring more planes back into service over time. The publisher argues this should reduce dependence on expensive wet leases and improve schedule stability, a key step in restoring passenger confidence.

The commentary also says Wake is pushing a hub-and-spoke model at Entebbe, where regional routes would feed long-haul flights and vice versa. It cites markets such as Nairobi, Juba, Kinshasa, Lagos and Johannesburg as part of that plan, while noting that route performance will depend on connectivity, frequency and aircraft choice rather than market size alone. Nigeria, southern Africa and cargo potential are highlighted as areas where the airline is trying to refine operations.

More broadly, the article presents the turnaround as an effort to rebuild the airline’s network discipline, fleet utilisation and commercial logic before any larger expansion. It places Uganda Airlines within the wider context of African hub carriers that depend on coordinated schedules and strong feeder traffic.