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.
Germanwings plans to grow its capacity by more than 10% this year. The airline will add four Airbus A319s and will operate a fleet of 30 aircraft. It will base two aircraft in Hannover for the first time.
Lufthansa’s pilot union is launching a strike ballot next week that is expected to authorize unlimited strikes. Vereinigung Cockpit is mainly pushing for job security issues as mainline pilots are concerned their jobs could be taken over by the lower-paid colleagues at Germanwings or other group carriers, such as Brussels Airlines, Austrian or Swiss. The two sides are also still trying to resolve a long-standing conflict about who should fly an incoming fleet of Embraer 195s.
Airfreight operators in Europe have seen a notable improvement in the business environment, but opinions are split on whether the trend is sustainable. Lufthansa Cargo is embracing a more optimistic view of the future, and is stepping back from fleet reduction plans. Others are not so sure that is the right strategy. A Cargolux official noted that the company is being “conservative.” While business has started to show signs of rebounding, the official said the freight carrier wonders, “How long will it last? Will it only be a bubble?”
