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 was forced to cancel almost two-thirds of its flights on Monday after pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) started a planned four-day strike that was then suspended until March 8. Negotiations are to start immediately. Of the 1,800 flights typically planned daily in February, the airline managed to operate only about 800, using capacity from third-party airlines and partners such as BMI. Group subsidiaries, including Austrian and Swiss, used larger aircraft on their German routes to have the capacity for stranded Lufthansa passengers.
A bitter conflict with its mainline pilots is threatening Lufthansa’s crucial restructuring efforts, which aim to make its intra-European operation more competitive versus low-cost carriers and return the unit profitability.
Lufthansa says it considers the planned strike by its pilots to be illegal. The airline said it could challenge the strike legally based on its belief that it is disproportionate. Pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) on Wednesday announced a four-day walk-out that would start on Monday. Lufthansa said it will not make a decision on the legal complaint before Monday, acknowledging that the scope of the industrial action has taken management by surprise.
