Girma was previously the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines from 2004 to 2011,[1] and served as the chairman of the board of directors of Rwandair from 2012 until 2017.
[2] Girma returned to Ethiopian Airlines in 2018 by joining its board of directors and was elevated to chairman in 2022.
[citation needed] He attended the University College of Addis Ababa, then the country's only higher education institution.
Girma, then 60, was at first reluctant to take the position but he eventually relented with the intention for only staying in the post for five years and also serving the carrier without government interference under his leadership.
The profits the airline has made have significantly raised employees’ incomes by an average of 167 percent.