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.
Lufthansa yesterday announced a major restructuring program that targets cost cuts in the passenger airline division by €1 billion annually from 2011. The carrier wants to reduce overhead costs by 20% and will likely eliminate 400 management positions, Executive Board member Christoph Franz wrote in a letter to employees. Franz is also CEO of the passenger airline. The program is called Climb 2011.
A Tupolev Tu-154 operated by Iranian carrier Caspian Airlines crashed on Wednesday in Northern Iran killing all 168 on board. The aircraft was operating the scheduled Flight 7908 from Tehran to Yerevan, Armenia, but after 16 minutes of flight time hit a field in the Kaswin region.
Austrian Airlines is widening its cost-saving initiatives by cutting another €150 million (US$209.6 million) from its annual staff expenses in the 2010-2015 timeframe.
