He started his journalism career in 1992 as a freelance writer for Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s largest daily national newspaper and soon specialised in air transport. Jens joined Aviation Week and Aviation Daily in 2000 as one of the European correspondents. Later his role was expanded to cover international air transport. In 2013 he was named Managing Editor Commercial.
Jens frequently appears on radio and TV to comment on industry matters. In 2003, he received the Hugo Junkers Award of the German aviation press for his coverage of Fairchild Dornier’s bankruptcy. He was named the country’s top travel and air transport writer by the Travel Industry Club three times. Jens graduated from the Munich School of Journalism.
Air Berlin is deepening its restructuring by cutting a further eight narrowbodies from its fleet this year to stabilize its financial performance. Under the “Shape and Size” program, Air Berlin already has reduced its fleet by 13 aircraft, and while the new fleet cuts are not being specified, it is expected they will include a mix of the Airbus A320s and Boeing 737 NGs previously targeted by the cost cutting initiative.
Italian low-fare airline Windjet looks set for an imminent collapse should a last minute, government-backed agreement with Alitalia fail. Windjet ceased operations Aug. 12, immediately stranding thousands of passengers. The airline also has commitments to serve some 300,000 passengers for the next several months, most of them in the busy summer travel season, a concern that has prompted the Italian Ministry of Transport to organize emergency meetings to resolve the problem.
