Mesfin Tasew: The Man Behind Africa’s Aviation Giant

By Aksah Italo
Published on 02/05/26

Mesfin Tasew Bekele, a man of formidable intelligence, does not present himself as someone driven by destiny. There is no grand mythology in the way he speaks about his career, no exaggerated claims about vision. Instead, his language is grounded, deliberate, almost austere.

“My love to work and my love for challenges was the one that helped my path,” he said in an earlier interview, summing up a four-decade career at Ethiopian Airlines with the conviction of someone who believes results speak louder than words.

Born into a poor family, Mesfin grew up understanding that ambition without discipline was meaningless. He has often returned to the role his father played in shaping his character.

“My father used to push me to study hard,” he recalled, explaining that education was never presented to him as a choice, but as an obligation.

For Tasew, happiness was never detached from effort. It came from achievement, from what he describes as the quiet satisfaction of seeing work completed and systems functioning.

“Nothing makes me happier,” he said.

Getting his hands dirty, he believed, was not something to be avoided, but proof that progress was being made.

At school, he made his father proud, later earning admission to Addis Ababa University’s campus. There, Tasew chose electrical engineering, a decision he did not arrive at immediately, but one that would quietly anchor his entire professional life. In later interviews, he has spoken about how engineering changed the way he thought. Problems were no longer abstract. They were concrete, solvable, and demanded patience.

“Nothing made me happier than to be challenged,” he said.

Shortly after finishing college, Mesfin joined Ethiopian Airlines in 1984 as an associate engineer. At the time, he did not imagine that he would stay.

“I didn’t think I would last,” he admitted years later.

Like many young professionals of his generation, he entertained the idea of leaving the country. Yet the work itself altered his plans. “My dream of going abroad immediately descended on how immediately enjoyable I found my work,” he said.

Of the three engineers he started with, he was the only one who remained. The airline, complex and demanding, had a way of absorbing those willing to learn.

Over the years, Tasew moved steadily and persistently through the organization, building a career that mirrored the airline’s own institutional discipline.

He worked across maintenance, engineering management, and operational leadership, accumulating a depth of internal knowledge that cannot be fast-tracked. After rising to the role of Deputy CEO, he worked closely under the then Chief Executive Officer, Tewolde Gebremariam, who coached him in leadership and the operational strategy of the company.

During Tewolde’s leadership, Tasew was appointed to senior operational roles and later sent to lead ASKY Airlines in Togo, a strategically sensitive investment in which Ethiopian Airlines holds a 40 percent stake. ASKY was not a ceremonial assignment. It placed him in charge of a complex multinational airline partnership while requiring alignment with Ethiopian’s broader strategy.

Along the way, Tasew expanded his academic foundation with a master’s degree in communication engineering and later an MBA from the Open University in the United Kingdom, equipping himself not to reinvent his thinking, but to translate technical insight into managerial judgment.

Tasew has often said that leadership is about balance rather than dominance. “A leader should be keen on long term strategic issues while opening his other eye to everyday activities that concern him,” he explained in one interview.

He has been particularly critical of what he sees as a common leadership failure. “The problem of many leaders is they only keep an eye for long term plans,” he said, warning against executives who either obsess over strategy while neglecting operations or drown in daily details while losing sight of direction.

That philosophy shaped his leadership style long before he was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines in March 2022.

By the time Mesfin assumed leadership, the carrier was on a positive trajectory, but the international aviation environment had become increasingly unforgiving. The pandemic’s aftershocks lingered, supply chains were under strain, fuel prices were volatile, and geopolitical tensions were disruptive. Tasew approached these challenges without theatrics. For him, leadership was not about projecting confidence, but about maintaining coherence.

In the previous fiscal year, the carrier recorded approximately 7.6 billion dollars in revenue, an increase of about eight percent from the previous year. Passenger numbers reached roughly 19.1 million, while cargo volumes stood at close to 785,000 tonnes.

These gains came despite what Tasew himself acknowledged were slowing global growth, regional conflicts, and regulatory challenges in key markets. Rather than framing the results as triumph, he described them as proof of resilience, of systems holding under pressure.

Cargo, in particular, continued to play a central role in the airline’s financial stability. Built steadily over years, Ethiopian’s cargo operations provided a buffer against volatility in passenger demand. The airline also expanded its network, adding new international routes and deepening connectivity across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas, reinforcing Addis Ababa’s position as a strategic hub.

Recognition followed, though Tasew has never spoken about awards with enthusiasm. Ethiopian Airlines was named Best Airline in Africa for the eighth consecutive year at the 2025 Skytrax World Airline Awards and received top honors at the APEX Passenger Choice Awards. For him, these accolades mattered only insofar as they reflected operational discipline and customer trust. He has repeatedly emphasized that excellence is not declared; it is maintained.

Perhaps the most visible expression of Mesfin’s long term thinking is the new international airport project near Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa. Conceived as a response to capacity constraints at Bole International Airport, the project is among the most ambitious infrastructure undertakings on the continent.

With a projected capacity exceeding 100 million passengers annually, it is intended to become Africa’s largest airport and a cornerstone of Ethiopia’s economic strategy.

Tasew has spoken about the project not as a monument, but as a necessity. In his view, aviation infrastructure is not a luxury for developing economies, but a prerequisite for competitiveness. The airport, once completed, is expected to reshape trade flows, tourism, and logistics, linking Ethiopia’s ambitions directly to global aviation networks.

Leadership at this scale has not been without difficulty. Ethiopian Airlines, like its global peers, has faced aircraft groundings due to engine maintenance bottlenecks and disruptions driven by geopolitical instability. Tasew’s response has remained consistent. Adapt rather than react. Invest rather than retreat. For him, cutting corners today creates failures tomorrow.

Despite his stature, Tasew speaks openly about the end of his tenure. He has expressed plans to retire around 2026, hoping to pass leadership to one of his apprentices with even stronger performance. His focus on succession reflects a belief that institutions matter more than individuals, and that continuity is a mark of strength rather than weakness.

For Tasew, the greatest joy has always been seeing the fruit of labor blossom. “For me, my biggest joy has always been to see the fruit of my labour,” he said, describing a satisfaction that comes not from titles, but from intrinsic fulfillment. It is a joy rooted in effort, patience, and the quiet confidence that comes from building something meant to last.

In an era dominated by loud executives and short attention spans, Tasew believes the wisdom he hopes to pass on to the next generation is simple but demanding: relentless hard work and discipline in whatever field one chooses. Married and a father of four, he teaches his children the same lesson he learned early in life.

“I believe that a person can get to where he wants to be if he works hard,” he said.