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 will reduce its fleet by 18 aircraft next summer in an effort to achieve financial turnaround. On Wednesday, new CEO Hartmut Mehdorn presented details of the “shape and size” restructuring plan, which aims to improve results by €200 million ($274 million) annually. Mehdorn succeeded long-standing CEO Joachim Hunold in September. Hunold stepped down days earlier.
Air Baltic CEO Berthold Flick says he “would have left a long time ago if I was not the owner” of the Latvian airline. Speaking at the World Low-Cost Airlines Conference Tuesday in London, Flick told delegates he will “definitely not be Air Baltic CEO this time next year.” However, the details of his departure depend on an agreement with the Latvian government.
European low-cost carriers will have to keep their low-fare structure, but offer a product attractive to business travelers to survive, Vueling’s CEO Alex Cruz told the delegates at the World Low-Cost Airline Conference this week in London. “We have broken all the commandments of the low-cost bible,” Cruz says, offering connecting flights, flying to major airports, using passenger loading bridges there and introducing added features for business travelers. “We are proving it can be done with a very low-cost structure,” he points out.
