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.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is revising its corporate governance to reflect demands for greater transparency and a shift in membership representation requested last at the organization’s 2011 annual general meeting (AGM) in Singapore. In this year’s AGM, being held this week in Beijing, IATA reallocated the one seat on the board of governors from North America to a representative of the Asia-Pacific region, and added a new seat to represent Middle East and Africa. The new board now seats 10 members.
Vladislav Filev, CEO of Russian carrier S7 Airlines, is ready to increase his stake in the airline. Filev and his wife currently control more than 71% of the airline, but in recent weeks Russian media reported that they might sell off part or all of their shares, possibly to rival Aeroflot.
Airlines may have to ground their Airbus A380s for 60 days to repair their wings, two A380 operators tell Aviation Week on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association’s annual general meeting this week in Beijing. Emirates Airline President Tim Clark says that a total of about 30,000 man hours are required to make the fix developed by Airbus, and that the work will be performed by Airbus because Emirates does not have the manpower to handle the task. The repair is needed because of cracks found in wing rib feet.
