Having successfully mastered the corona crisis, the subsequent recovery of the air transport sector and its business turnaround, the Lufthansa Group is now embarking on the next phase in its corporate development by reshaping and realigning its executive board. The restructuring will coincide with the departure of four of the board’s present members.
The terms of office of Harry Hohmeister and Detlef Kayser will end as scheduled in the current year. Simultaneously with this, Christina Foerster and Remco Steenbergen will step down from the executive board by mutual agreement.
“Our executive board has done outstanding work in guiding the Lufthansa Group through the extremely challenging phase of the pandemic,” said Karl-Ludwig Kley, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “It has successfully mastered the demanding subsequent ramp-up of our operations; and the Lufthansa Group stands once again today on a sound business foundation. For this our executive board and each of its members deserve our highest recognition and our thanks. And the supervisory board would like to express its particular gratitude to those Executive Board members who will now be leaving us, for all their work, their commitment and their strong loyalty to the Lufthansa Group.”
The Lufthansa Supervisory Board passed the following resolutions at its meeting on February 22, 2024:
- Grazia Vittadini is appointed to the executive board with effect from July 1, 2024. She will serve as chief technology officer, with responsibility for “Technik and IT” and with additional responsibility for sustainability. Her mandate is for a three-year term.
- Dieter Vranckx, presently CEO of Swiss International Air Lines, is also appointed to the executive board with effect from July 1, 2024, responsible for “Global Markets and Commercial Steering Hubs”. His mandate is also for a three-year period. Customer Experience and Group Brand Management, which are presently part of the Brand & Sustainability division, will be shifted to “Global Markets and Commercial Steering Hubs."
- The Group Finances division will be headed by a new chief financial officer. Until the appointment, Michael Niggemann will serve as interim CFO in addition to his existing duties as Board member for the division “Personnel, Logistics & Non-Hub Business” (formerly known as Human Resources & Infrastructure).
Upon moving to Frankfurt, Vranckx will also assume the deputy chairmanship of the Board of Directors of Swiss International Air Lines from Remco Steenbergen, who will relinquish these duties on stepping down from the executive board.
“The challenges now facing our industry and our group may be different from those of past years, but they are no less substantial,” said Kley. “We aim to meet and master them with renewed energy and with a new executive board team that blends even more international experience and an even broader range of outlooks and perspectives. Now more than ever, our interactions with our customers, our investors and our partners, and also our collaborations within the Lufthansa Group, demand the strongest teamwork approach. And this, too, we both expect and anticipate from our new executive board.”
