[ad_1]
Thomas Klühr will step down as CEO of Swiss at the end of the year for private reasons. Like other airlines, Swiss is going through a difficult phase. The messy schedule of winter flights reflects a lack of customer confidence.
Thomas Klühr will only lead Switzerland until the end of 2020.
Thomas Klühr, who exudes a lot of calm and humility, announced his resignation as Swiss CEO at the end of the year. Apparently, the 58-year-old Klühr had been thinking about leaving work, which would undoubtedly be exhausting, “for private reasons”. In any case, the chairman of the Swiss board of directors, Reto Francioni, owes the services of the outgoing CEO and announced that Klühr had postponed his resignation, scheduled for the first quarter of this year, following the outbreak of the Corona crisis. He has now asked the Swiss Board of Directors to relieve him of his position at the end of 2020. It was with great regret that this request was granted.
A successor will be determined shortly. A regulated transfer of management personnel is undoubtedly very important to guide the company, which is in a phase of contraction, with the greatest possible tranquility through the worst crisis in international aviation.
Four years of success under Klühr
Klühr took over as Harry Hohmeister’s successor in February 2016. In the initial phase, the Nuremberg man faced a mountain of tasks and problems from the start. He immediately got involved and initially also assumed the role of Director of Operations. The largest renewal of the Swiss fleet was planned, although initially there were several delays with the Bombardier C-Series. The acquisition of Boeing-777s for the long-haul fleet went smoothly.
The lack of punctuality at Zurich airport and the tough competitive battle with competitors from the Gulf region also made it difficult for the Swiss. By comparison, the corona pandemic presents Klühr and his management team with a much greater challenge. It is not yet possible to forecast when intercontinental traffic will normalize.
In financial matters, under the leadership of Klühr, Swiss succeeded in the years 2016 to 2019. Within the Lufthansa Group, the Swiss subsidiary has consistently shone with an above-average performance over the last four financial years. This created a substance that Swiss can now take advantage of.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, Francioni points out that Klühr, with great dedication and skill, made a significant contribution to the financial and operational stabilization of the company after the Covid-19 outbreak. Earlier this spring he made an emergency call to the Federal Council, which then prepared an aid package for Switzerland worth a total of 1.5 billion francs in April. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr says that Klühr has worked for the Lufthansa Group for more than three decades in various positions and has earned the highest reputation in the entire aviation industry.
Taking a seat at the Aviation Foundation
Even after his resignation as Swiss CEO, Klühr, who will also step down as Chairman of the Edelweiss Air Board of Directors, will continue to carry out certain functions for Lufthansa. One of them is taking a seat at the Swiss Aviation Foundation, which is still in its founding phase. The foundation must monitor compliance with the location agreement between the federal government and Lufthansa. That was one of the conditions that were made in the spring after the federal loan support. The federal government provides the president and two other members; Lufthansa is represented by two members.
The Swiss Board of Directors will decide on Klühr’s successor in the fourth quarter, as will be announced. A rapid reinforcement of management is necessary. This currently includes Markus Binkert as CFO, Thomas Frick as COO and Tamur Goudarzi Pour as Chief Marketing Officer.
It’s gonna be a long hard winter
In addition to the announcement of Klühr’s resignation, Swiss published the winter flight schedule that will apply from Tuesday, October 25. At first glance it seems acceptable, because around 85 percent of the original destinations are being offered again. But a second glance confirms that the numerous travel restrictions and uncertainty due to unpredictable quarantine regulations are taking their toll. The business of flights on intercontinental routes burns into the background and lives more on the transport of goods than on the business of passengers. Therefore, the offered flight performance will reduce the previous year’s figure by a total of 30 to a maximum of 40 percent.
With this requirement, Switzerland is still in the upper range, because the international industry association Iata has just lowered its sights due to weak advance bookings. Now a 68 percent drop in international passenger business is expected for December compared to the previous year; in July a decline of 55 percent was forecast. The industry calls for rapid corona tests to make travel possible again, but so far there has been a lack of implementation of such protective measures at airports.
Faute de mieux, Swiss is offering a few additional travel destinations in Europe during the Christmas season and is renewing its offer for a free ticket refund or reservation change in the event of canceled flights. In the long-haul segment, Boston, Johannesburg and, more frequently, Dubai will be included in the winter flight program. It is in the stars if Los Angeles and Miami can be served three times a week and also New Delhi as of March 2021.
