In a letter to Lufthansa colleagues, Chief Executive Christoph Franz has challenged the airline to further improve efforts to generate cash flow while at the same time committed that Germany’s national carrier will invest €3 billion Euro toward’s passenger experience and product improvements.
The excerpts from the letter first appeared in German magazine “Der Speigel” on Sunday, August 5.
Facing headwinds from economic challenges in Europe, fuel pricing pressure as well as increased competition from other airlines, Lufthansa is realizing that it can not neglect it’s passengers for the sake of reducing expenses. It is encouraging to see an announcement where they are increasing efforts to improve passenger experience while at the same time trying to save billions of Euros in operational expenses.
Based on last week’s earnings report that exceeded analyst expectations thanks in part to savings recognized under their ‘SCORE’ expense management program and Austrian Airlines reorganization, it certainly shows that progress is being made, but they are not yet satisfied with the results.
Fluff IMO. All we have really seen is a downgrading of the passenger “experience” over the last year or so. There is NO commitment to the passenger IMO. It is about the bottom line and cost cutting and we will continue to suffer as a result, which is a mistake in the long term as passengers will shift their allegiances. LH group should focus on real cost savings within the business and not off load on their customers if they want to maintain loyalty. It is the usual short term false economy of mid level management which makes the books look good in the immediate future, but damages the company brand in the long term IMO.