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 and Swiss International Air Lines expect to harvest merger benefits over the next few years, but pledge to continue restructuring Swiss and redefining Lufthansa's European strategy for the near term. As expected, Swiss and Lufthansa's boards of directors, as well as Swiss shareholders, last week approved the Lufthansa takeover proposal that sees Swiss become part of the Lufthansa Group and a member of Star Alliance. By the time the deal was announced, 83% of the Swiss shareholders were willing to sell their stakes to Europe's No. 2 airline.
Airline analysts are disappointed to note Lufthansa's takeover of Swiss -- both an important step in European airline consolidation and a blessing for the troubled Swiss carrier -- will have a significantly negative impact on Lufthansa' operating earnings for the next two years (DAILY, March 24).
