| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 02/04/01 |
| Author: | Page Number: 12 |
| Copyright: Other |
This Week: Lufthansa
Report by Louise Longman
APRIL Fool’s Day has made travel industry history this year as the D-Day for British Airways’ commission cuts. It also marks the 29th year at Lufthansa for vice-president sales and services Europe/North Ulrich Wachter.
When he joined in 1972 the German airline operated 52 aircraft and employed 72 staff. The Lufthansa Group now boasts a fleet of 400 aircraft and a staggering 66,000 employees worldwide.
Wachter has seen many changes over the years, from near bankruptcy in the early 1990s when redundant aircraft were banished to the Arizona and Phoenix deserts, to Lufthansa’s best-ever year in 1998, with record profits of 2.5 billion euros, equivalent to £797 million. This year the airline is set to make its second record year with provisional pre-tax profit figures estimated at 1.2 billion euros, equivalent to £748 million, a 44% increase on 1999.
The change in fortunes, says Wachter, is a result of Lufthansa chairman Jurgen Weber’s drastic cost-cutting programme.