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.
Strict cost controls helped British Airways achieve a significantly improved net profit in the July-September quarter, but yields were still below expectations, raising concern for the coming winter season. BA shares were down 2.45% in afternoon trading following the results announcement yesterday. It posted a GBP123 million (US$228 million) net profit on GBP2.02 billion (US$3.75 billion) in sales. The profit was up 26% from the comparable 2003 period, which was still reeling from the SARS pneumonia outbreak and the traffic slump following the Iraq war.
Spanair pilots plan to go on strike for seven days each in November and December. According to pilot union SEPLA, the pilots complain about a high number of free days that they have not been able to take in spite of management's official commitment. Also, pilots stand up against a plan to wet-lease aircraft without prior union agreement. Spanair is Spain's second largest scheduled carrier behind Iberia and owned by SAS Group. -JF
