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.
Avianca-TACA plans to retain strong bilateral alliances outside the Star Alliance, even after it joins the group. CEO Fabio Villegas told Aviation Week that Avianca-TACA will retain its code-share agreement with Spanish airline Iberia even though Star has rival Spanair as a member. Villegas says the exemption was negotiated ahead of the invitation to join the alliance. The decision was due to the fact that Spanair’s network is focused on Barcelona, while Avianca-TACA sees Madrid as its biggest gateway to Europe.
German ATC provider DFS is asking a local court to block a strike by controllers scheduled for Aug. 9. DFS says the walkout is illegal because some union demands touch on agreements that are not up for negotiation. DFS was successful with a similar move last week, but the GdF union has since dropped two demands that were the basis for the court’s decision. GdF called for a six-hr. walkout that would start at 6 a.m. local time. DFS could still avoid the strike by calling for arbitration.
