What does Klaus-Michael Kühne intend to do with the airline?

However, there are no signs of this. However, the influence could be seen in the planned restructuring of the Lufthansa core brand. This should become more independent. The question of how future management tasks will be redistributed between the group and the premium airline could also be of interest to Kühne, it is speculated in management circles.

The restructuring of Lufthansa German Airlines – as the core brand is officially called – is one of the Group’s major projects. So far, unlike Swiss, AUA, Brussels Airlines or Eurowings, Lufthansa flight operations have been part of the parent company. In the future, it should be able to operate independently like the other brands. The project is to be implemented by January 1st next year.

The personnel tableau at the top of the then realigned airline is already in place. The premium airline has had its own CEO in Jens Ritter since the beginning of April. At the same time, Jörg Beißel became CFO of Lufthansa German Airlines. Since the beginning of September, Karl-Hermann Brandes has joined the management body as Chief Operating Officer.

Astrid Neben has been responsible for HR issues since November 2020. The team is to take on tasks that were previously controlled by the group’s headquarters. In the crisis triggered by the pandemic, it was important to centralize tasks such as cash management in order to ensure the survival of society, according to the Lufthansa headquarters in Frankfurt.

Dual structures are likely to be the focus

But when the company restarted earlier this year, which went horribly wrong due to the major staff shortages, the Lufthansa management became aware that centralization also has disadvantages. Tasks are to be shifted back to the operational units. This applies to collective bargaining, but also to issues such as operational management, marketing and product development.

The new structure raises a number of further questions. One is: How will the tasks be distributed between airline management and the group board in the future? Although Kühne does not yet have a seat on the supervisory board, his confidante Karl Gernandt, Executive Chairman of Kühne Holding AG, is due to move in by next year’s Annual General Meeting at the latest. In Lufthansa management circles, it is not excluded that the entrepreneur will announce his views on the future structure of the group beforehand.

>> Read also: Trial of strength at Lufthansa – major shareholder Kühne wants more than just a seat on the supervisory board

Kühne understands a lot about logistics, but up to now he has had little to do with an airline group. In addition, the entrepreneur has already said that he does not want to get involved in the operational business. So he will do what he knows a lot about, it is assumed in Lufthansa circles: he will take on the organizational chart of the group. Duplicate structures at the Lufthansa airline and at group level are unlikely to meet with him.

Exactly those stand out with the conversion. The group board will still need a CEO. CFO Remco Steenbergen is also needed, as is Labor Director Michael Niggemann, especially since he is also in demand for legal issues such as takeovers. Christina Foerster’s topic of sustainability is likely to remain of central importance with a view to the EU climate plans.

But Foerster’s second area – the brand – is one of the airlines and less of the parent company in the new decentralized structure. The future of the “Global Markets and Network” department, which Harry Hohmeister is currently responsible for, must also be questioned from January. It is also unclear whether someone is needed to centrally control the topics of technology and fleet.

Kühne has already occupied the supervisory board at Hapag-Lloyd

There is still a lot of speculation, but in business circles it is assumed that there will be changes in the management board in the foreseeable future. It is quite possible that Kühne and Gernandt will then take a very close look at the plans.

Both are known for paying close attention to the efficiency and economic success of investments. Strategically, Kühne does not need Lufthansa for its core business. There are points of contact between his company Kuehne + Nagel and the Lufthansa freight subsidiary Cargo. The entrepreneur has emphasized this several times in the past.

A merger of Kuehne + Nagel with LH Cargo – as some suspected – is considered unlikely. It probably wouldn’t do much either. Kuehne + Nagel is already a major customer of Lufthansa Cargo. At the same time, competitors are also used if the conditions there are better. Binding yourself to just one partner is not the world of Kühne, who pays attention to every cent.

>> Read also: Lufthansa must open up more to external parties

One thing, however, is known at the Lufthansa Aviation Center, the corporate headquarters at Frankfurt Airport: the 85-year-old will not be a silent shareholder. Looking back at his work at the logistics company Hapag-Lloyd, where he holds around 30 percent of the shares, teaches that. There, in 2012, he was instrumental in ensuring that Jürgen Weber, the long-standing Lufthansa boss and chairman of the airline group’s supervisory board, took on the task of chief inspector.

At Lufthansa, the question of who will lead the supervisory board in the future must be clarified at the latest at the upcoming annual general meeting. Then Kley’s contract expires. There are signs that the 71-year-old wants to extend the contract again. But Kley has not yet said whether he actually wants to go into extra time. Without the consent of Kühne and Gernandt, he will hardly be able to remain at the head of the supervisory board.

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