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 will postpone growth on long-haul routes planned in summer as its forward bookings fall during the Iraq war. The carrier will pull seven long-haul aircraft out of service. In total, the airline will have 55 aircraft on the ground -- 31 mainline narrowbodies and 17 regional aircraft, plus the seven in the long-haul fleet. Lufthansa has managed to gain market share in its intercontinental flying program until recently.
Insolvent aircraft manufacturer Fairchild Dornier has completed the final details to transfer the 328JET regional jet program to AvCraft Aviation. AvCraft CEO Ben Bartel said in Oberpfaffenhofen he would likely make a decision on restarting 328JET production toward the end of the year. Along with the program, AvCraft bought 18 completed 328JETs and five additional aircraft in varying stages of completion. According to AvCraft, Nuremberg-based Aero Dienst has placed an order for three Envoy 3s, the corporate jet version of the 328JET.
British Airways will cut its April and May capacity by 4% and bring forward job cuts planned earlier in an effort to adapt to slowing traffic beginning to be felt after the start of the Iraq war. BA's reduction is below what some of its competitors are doing, a move analysts see as an indication that the airline has managed capacity cautiously in the recent past. As part of its "future size and shape" initiative, BA has planned to shed 13,000 jobs by April 2004. The timing will now be accelerated and the airline aims to make the cuts by September.
