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 has moved to essentially ground the airline for three days this week, after talks over the weekend failed to get it and pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) nearer to a resolution of a long standing conflict over the financing of the early retirement scheme. The company has cancelled 3,800 flights for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and only a total of 500 shorthaul and longhaul services are to be operated. VC announced a full three-day strike last Friday.
Lufthansa is moving closer a highly disruptive pilots strike after their union, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), declared that further talks with management have failed to bring the parties together. VC wants its members to go on strike for three full days next week (April 2-4).
Air Berlin and Etihad face serious opposition from some of their European rivals against the plan for closer integration and more control for the Gulf carrier. Senior industry sources tell Aviation Week that “airlines will definitely not accept” any new set-up that would be contrary to effective ownership and control mechanisms, and they’re confident Germany’s transport ministry will reject any solution to the growing Air Berlin crisis that is not on firm legal grounds.
