The Chief Operation Officer of Africa World Airlines, Sean Mendes, prepares to exit the airline after a two-year contract.

Sean Mendes writes an open letter to announce his exit which will take effect from next month, November 2020.

In his letter, he makes known that he will be returning to his home country Malawi as he takes a final break from formal duties but for consultancy.

Mr. Mendes indicated that all formal operations should be copied to his assistant, Captain Kwasi Oteng, who will be taking his place with immediate effect from next month.

Read the letter below:

Dear Friends,

When I returned to AWA as Chief Operations Officer in August 2018, I signed up for a 2 year commitment. Back then, nobody could have foreseen any of the chaos that we would encounter during this period. Yet today, I can confidently say that the worst is behind us (at least in West Africa) and we are firmly on the road to recovery.

After consultation with the Board and the Executives over the past weeks, we have agreed that the time is right for me to head back home to Malawi next month. An old Asian proverb claims that "it is better to be a dog in times of peace than to be a human in times of chaos". For the last few months, I have been the human in times of chaos. Now is the time to be a dog in times of peace.

From a practical standpoint, not much will change when I exit the organisation. We will transition executive oversight of the departments under me to Capt. Kwasi Oteng, but the Heads of Departments (HODs) will continue to operate as before.

I will continue to operate as normal until the end of October, but please begin to copy Kwasi on any relevant correspondence with me so he can make a smooth transition in due course.

Even once I formally leave though, I will still be available via WhatsApp if you need to reach me for any reason. My personal email is sean@seanmendis.com and I hope that many of you will choose to stay in touch via email, WhatsApp or social media - both professionally and personally.

I do not intend to take up a formal role elsewhere for the immediate future, but I am open to consulting or short-medium term project roles while I am based out of Malawi.

I will continue to be active on social media, and without the need to choose my words carefully for diplomatic reasons, I'm sure I will ruffle a few feathers! Nonetheless, I am sure our paths will cross again someday. The aviation community is a small world. Safe skies until we meet again!