It has been no secret that Lufthansa’s launch of Eurowings long-haul service has met with some turbulence after excessive delays and problems in operating some of their flights. This has caused a bit of backlash among passengers, however LH is taking active steps to work through the growing pains so that these problems go away in the future.
To that end, Karl Ulrich Garnadt, who runs Eurowings has suggested that the start of some planned routes may be deferred into the future. Specifically, he used Las Vegas as an example. Originally, ‘LAS’ was supposed to begin receiving Eurowings flights from Cologne beginning on May 4, 2016. However, according to Garnadt, it appears now that Las Vegas will not see Eurowings flights until sometime in 2017.
When an LH executive ‘suggests’ something, it usually turns into reality, so I have no reason to think that this delay will not happen. His comments went on to suggest that in order to get Eurowings operating properly and meeting passenger expectations, LH has to slow down the expansion in order to perfect the product. The feeling is that things will be back on track next year.
On a positive note, thanks to strong bookings and low fuel prices, Eurowings is achieving their financial objectives. In addition, 2 more A330 aircraft will join the fleet in May and another one will be delivered next year, giving Eurowings a fleet of 7 A330s. That should go a long way to making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible.
