Captain Mohammed Ahmed Bomba (July 1932 – 26 November 2024) was an Ethiopian air travel industry veteran. He was the CEO of

Ethiopian Airlines Ethiopian Airlines (), formerly ''Ethiopian Air Lines'' (EAL), is the flag carrier of Ethiopia, and is wholly owned by the country's government. EAL was founded on 21 December 1945 and commenced operations on 8 April 1946, expanding to intern ...

from 1980 to 1991 and later served as the secretary general of the

African Airlines Association The African Airlines Association ( French: ''Association des Compagnies Aériennes Africaines''), abbreviated AFRAA, is a trade association of African airlines. AFRAA was founded in Accra, Ghana, in 1968, and is, as of February 2021, headquarter ...

Background and education

Mohammed Ahmed was born to a Harari family in July 1932. In his early career, Mohammed had a brief stint with the

Ethiopian Air Force The Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) () is the air service branch of the Ethiopian National Defence Force. The ETAF is tasked with protecting the national air space, providing support to ground forces, as well as assisting civil operations during wa ...

. He held a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

aeronautical engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

, obtained from

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

and an Executive Program certificate at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in the United States.

Career at Ethiopian Airlines

Mohammed Ahmed began his career as chief aeronautical engineer at

in the 1960s, playing a foundational role in the airline’s early development. In 1980, he became CEO, known for boldly countering the policies of Ethiopia’s communist Derg regime, thereby preserving the airline’s independence from government influence. Prior to his appointment, Ethiopian Airlines faced operational difficulties that were exacerbated by the

Ethiopian Civil War The Ethiopian Civil War was a civil war in Ethiopia and present-day Eritrea, fought between the Ethiopian military junta known as the Derg and Ethiopian-Eritrean anti-government rebels from 12 September 1974 to 28 May 1991. The Derg overthre ...

. Mohammed swiftly stabilized the airline, guiding it through challenging times. Quality had declined since the 1970s due to overstaffing and political interference, Mohammed addressed this by reducing the workforce by 10%. During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, the Ethiopian government proposed replacing American-manufactured planes with Soviet models to align with the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, but Ethiopian Airlines, under Mohammed’s leadership, successfully resisted this change. By 1989, the airline had entered a period of prosperity, attributed largely to his leadership. According to American writer Paul B. Henze, who met Mohammed Ahmed in 1990 at Ethiopian Airlines headquarters in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, he described him as among the top entrepreneurs in the developing world, who also remained loyal to his homeland of

Harar Harar (; Harari language, Harari: ሀረር / ; ; ; ), known historically by the indigenous as Harar-Gey or simply Gey (Harari: ጌይ, ݘٛىيْ, ''Gēy'', ), is a List of cities with defensive walls, walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is al ...

. Mohammed would go on to serve as the secretary general of the

in 1992.

Awards & accolades

Mohammed was presented with the African aviation award for his contribution to the advancement of Africa's airlines business in 1999.

Personal life

Mohammed enjoyed long walks and was an avid chess player. According to his former coworker Assefa Ambaye, Mohammed Ahmed was also a supporter of equal rights in the workplace for women. He leaves behind his wife Fethia Ahmed and four children.

Death

Mohammed Ahmed died in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 26 November 2024, and was laid to rest at Kolfe Muslim Cemetery. His funeral was attended by prominent individuals, including Mesfin Bekele, the current CEO of Ethiopian Airlines.

References