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 current revamp of U.S. carriers' labor deals "must be a paradigm shift in worker/management relations," said Association of Flight Attendants President Pat Friend this week at the Phoenix Aviation Symposium. "We have made the necessary wage reductions to save our airlines," Friend claimed, even though labor relations have been poor in the good times in her view. If workers are not treated better and a paradigm shift is not apparent, when the recently approved deals become due in 2008 "we are looking at Armageddon." -JF
Traditional network carriers should be able to "sustain some kind of revenue premium" over low-cost carriers, US Airways Senior VP-Marketing and Planning Ben Baldanza believes.
Swiss International Airlines will split up mainline and regional operations and set up Swiss Express as its new regional arm. The decision comes against the background of a CHF1 billion (US$743.5 million) loss in 2002 and an estimated CHF300 million (US$223 million) loss in the first quarter, a deteriorating general economic situation and unresolved internal issues stemming from the integration of parts of defunct Swissair into former regional carrier Crossair. CEO Andre Dose, who was rumored to be stepping down, will stay on for now.
