Frankfurt Carsten Spohr knows: “One likes to fly with a winner.” So the Lufthansa boss wants to make his airline such a winner. The manager is aware that a lot of work awaits the entire Lufthansa team. “You know what happened over the summer. I had to apologize to the customers,” Spohr said on Friday in Frankfurt.
The airlines in the Lufthansa Group had to cancel thousands of flights at the beginning of the summer season. They had planned too aggressively, the flight plan did not match the available staff – neither at Lufthansa nor at partners such as the airports or the ground service providers.
But this Friday Spohr wants to look ahead. It’s a setting the manager and pilot loves. The latest addition to the Lufthansa fleet is to the left of the speaker’s platform in the imposing A380 maintenance hangar at Frankfurt Airport. It is the first of a total of 32 Boeing 787-9s. Nickname: Dreamliner.
“The plane that’s standing here is a symbol for all the priorities that we have set ourselves,” says Spohr. And counts: a better customer experience, prospects for employees and a return to profitability.
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The group was profitable again in the second quarter, for the first time since the pandemic began. 340 million euros operating profit before interest and taxes was in the books. Spohr will report the figures for the third quarter shortly. “So much can be revealed: There is no reason for misery.”
New, more comfortable seats are to be installed in 2023.
(Photo: dpa)
In the summer, the company earned around one billion euros. The group management is currently working with the unions on the prospects for the employees. Now it’s the customer’s turn.
4.5 billion euros for more comfort
With a major quality offensive, Spohr and his team want to show customers, who have been badly battered and often annoyed, that Lufthansa can be at the top again. “We want to set new standards for premium,” promises the Lufthansa chief.
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The company intends to invest 4.5 billion euros in its range by the end of the decade. Around two billion euros are being invested in new aircraft, and 100 are to be added to the fleet. The remaining 2.5 billion euros will be invested in new services and offers on the ground, such as lounges.
Lufthansa has undertaken a mammoth program and there is a lot of catching up to do. 31,000 airplane seats have to be exchanged, lounges have to be modernized. At the same time, the management wants to expand the digital offers to accompany the customer along the entire travel chain. If a flight is canceled in the future, passengers should be able to quickly receive alternative offers on their mobile device and be able to rebook. Frequent flyers in particular will be happy to hear that.
The management has high hopes for the new cabin in particular, which should set new standards. The ones installed in the latest Dreamliner are only an interim solution. The jet was actually intended for the Chinese Hainan Airlines, which no longer wanted the plane. So Lufthansa struck, largely left the furnishings and only adapted the interior design. The jet should go into service as soon as possible.
The company’s new seats are to be installed in the jets from next year. Then customers can not only look forward to an even more comfortable premium economy seat. Spohr and his colleagues hope to score particularly well with the new business and first class.
Lots of privacy for the first class customers
Those who book business in the future should get a seat with direct access to the aisle without having to climb over it. There are different configurations, depending on whether the passenger wants to relax or work. There is even a separate business suite in the first row, with higher walls and a sliding door.
There is also a lot of privacy for the first-class customers. You have your own self-contained room with your own wardrobe and other features. More comfort, more premium can hardly be offered in a commercial aircraft, says the Lufthansa boss self-confidently.
Spohr, 55 years old and father of two daughters, is certain that the quality offensive has come at exactly the right time. Although the Ukraine war and the other crises could help the recovery slow down somewhat, international air traffic will continue on its way out of the crisis: “Japan has just reopened. We assume that China will partially open again after the party congress. The business travelers are coming back.”
Spohr is confident that the group will make an operating profit again this year.
More: Despite problems, Lufthansa is planning a new low-cost airline