Lufthansa is actually not known for radical changes. Structures generally remain in place longer than they are good for the company. Anyone who has been there long enough and has proven to be a loyal Lufthansea employee will achieve something. Loyalty to CEO Carsten Spohr, who has led the company since 2014 and is currently allowed to stay until at least 2028, is particularly important for a career.
The background is important to understand how unusual it is what the Lufthansa supervisory board decided on Thursday and the company surprisingly announced in the evening: Four of the six current board members will be leaving the company, and the board will then go from six to five Members reduced. And at least two of the three new ones don’t come from our own company.
The details: Detlef Kayser (Fleet and Technology Board), Harry Hohmeister (Global Markets and Network Management), Christina Foerster (Brand Management and Sustainability) and Remco Steenbergen (Finance) are leaving the company. Steenbergen goes at the beginning of May, the other three at the end of June. They are coming: Grazia Vittadini, 54, as director of technology and Dieter Vranckx, 51, as director of global markets. A new CFO has yet to be found; until then, HR Director Michael Niggemann will take over the department on an interim basis.
It had been clear for a long time that Kayser and Hohmeister would leave. Lufthansa has long since loosened the once strict age limit for board members of 60, which Spohr, 57, should also benefit from in the not too distant future, but Hohmeister will be 60 in April and Kayser next year, so at best there would be new contracts with a shorter term been in there. What is surprising, however, is that Foerster and Steenbergen also have to leave, both of whom had longer-term contracts. Lufthansa is now separating from them “by mutual agreement.”
The chairman of the supervisory board initiates a complete overhaul
It is clear that Lufthansa supervisory board chairman Karl-Ludwig Kley wanted to use the upcoming board restructuring for a complete overhaul, from which the powerful CEO Spohr would be excluded. “The challenges for our industry and our company are different than in previous years, but they remain enormous,” said Kley in a statement from the company. “We want to approach it with new momentum and a changed team that combines even more international experience and diverse perspectives. Interaction with our customers, investors, partners, but also collaboration within the Lufthansa Group requires a strong understanding of teamwork more than ever. We also expect this from our new management team.”
Lufthansa has recently maneuvered itself into better shape again after the devastating Corona years, also thanks to the very strong demand in air transport, which is ensuring high ticket prices. The airline expects an operating profit of 2.6 billion euros for the 2023 financial year, details will be announced on March 7th. However, there are still structural problems: the fleet is largely out of date, the group can hardly afford faster and higher investments given the low margins, and there are now years of delays, especially with Boeing deliveries. Collective bargaining disputes in several employee groups are currently putting a strain on the company. A few days ago, the ground employees represented by Verdi went on warning strike. And on Thursday evening, the flight attendant union UFO, which represents 18,000 employees, declared collective bargaining with Lufthansa to have failed.
The most notable innovation in the board restructuring is the move from Grazia Vittadini to Lufthansa. Vittadini studied aeronautical engineering with a focus on aerodynamics and worked at Airbus for almost 20 years, including in Bremen and Hamburg. In 2018 she became the aircraft manufacturer’s head of technology. But after three years she surprisingly announced her departure in 2021. There were rumors at the time that Vittadini sought the limelight a little too much for the taste of Airbus boss Guillaume Faury, which will also be exciting to observe in his relationship with Lufthansa boss Spohr – he doesn’t necessarily like it either the competitors receive too much attention.
Vittadini, who has both Italian and German citizenship, then emerged as head of technology at British engine maker Rolls-Royce. But after the tough Tufan Erginbilgic, as the new CEO, introduced drastic austerity measures that also affected the research budget, Vittadini no longer wanted to take part. Since there aren’t too many jobs at this level, the question arose as to where the ambitious engineer would go next.
The move to Lufthansa presents her with new tasks: Although she is allowed to continue working with aircraft, she can only purchase and maintain them and no longer develop them. In the future, her department will also include the topic of sustainability, which Foerster has previously been responsible for. Vittadini has made a name for himself at Airbus in this area in particular.
Dieter Vranckx is currently head of the Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss and previously led Brussels Airlines. He spent most of his career at Swiss.