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.
Under pressure from unions, KLM senior management has dropped a bonus plan -- approved as part of the prospective Air France takeover -- which would have given top executives up to half of their salaries as a bonus if certain milestones were met during the next three years. KLM planned to explain the decision at an extraordinary board meeting that was continuing Monday evening. The carrier's unions threatened to go on strike if the plan was implemented.
Slovak low-fare airline SkyEurope will add Warsaw as its third base in early May. The carrier will start flying to its existing bases in Bratislava/Slovakia and Budapest/Hungary. The airline plans to add services to London, Paris and Amsterdam in early June.
Swiss International Air Lines has named one-time Lufthansa senior executive Christoph Franz its new CEO. Franz will take over from interim-CEO Pieter Bouw, who is also chairman of the Administrative Board, on July 1. Tasked primarily with achieving the long-sought corporate turnaround, he takes on one of the most difficult jobs in the European airline industry.
