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 German Airlines is preparing a major revamp of its European flight operations. The restructuring, which should cut operating costs up to 20%, is expected to help the German carrier combat increasingly aggressive low-fare competitors. The airline, Europe's third-biggest, is scheduled to release results of an in-house review dubbed "Zukunft Kont" (The Future of Continental Flight Operations), along with quarterly results, on Nov. 12. The review, initiated several months ago, focused on potential efficiency gains.
Aero Lloyd prepared for a limited relaunch of charter services this week after Bayerische Landesbank agreed to grant a EUR5 million (US$5.8 million) loan to the airline. Germany's fifth-largest charter airline was grounded late last week (DAILY, Oct. 20) after the bank, which owns 66% of the carrier, rejected management's turnaround proposal and immediately canceled all loans. Aero Lloyd filed for insolvency, remotely similar to U.S. Chapter 11, last Thursday.
Swiss International Air Lines will fly its Embraer 145s and Saab 2000s in a single-class configuration, starting at the end of the month, the airline reported. The decision is part of a simplified product offering in the European flying program where the airline has also introduced a new fare structure dubbed "Swiss in Europe." The Swiss winter timetable comprises 72 destinations in 44 countries and is significantly smaller because of the company's financial difficulties. -JF
