Jens Bischof is the new Chairman of the Management Board of Cologne-based airline Eurowings. The appointment today means the 54-year-old is now CEO of the second-largest airline in the Lufthansa Group.
Given the headwinds facing many airlines due to the coronavirus outbreak, there are expected to be many changes and management shuffles in the boardrooms of many of the world’s leading airlines.
The outbreak of the virus is causing major concerns in the industry. Only today, Eurowing’s parent company, Lufthansa, announced it was extending flight cancellations on Iran and China routes until late April, part of a broader rollback.
Although this appointment of Jens Bischof is likely not linked to the outbreak, it is undoubtedly a significant appointment and bodes well for the future direction of Eurowings.
So, who is Jens Bischof? He was previously CEO of the airline SunExpress. This appointment means he succeeds Thorsten Dirks, who is now responsible for ‘IT, Digital and Innovation’ on the Lufthansa Group Executive Board.
Eurowings kicked off with a morning get-together with the employees of Eurowings at Cologne/Bonn Airport, at which Thorsten Dirks officially handed over the management of the airline to Jens Bischof giving him a warm welcome.
On this occasion, Bischof got to know many of his new colleagues personally on his very first day at work.
Jens Bischof said to his new Eurowings team on Monday morning, “In just a few years, you have made Eurowings the clear number two in the country next to Lufthansa, the largest German holiday airline and one of the leading point-to-point carriers throughout Europe.
“Today, 28 million customers a year fly with Eurowings – and they have been flying super punctually with significantly increased customer satisfaction for months now. All of you in this room have my highest appreciation for this development”.
With more than 30 years of experience in the Lufthansa Group, Jens Bischof is a passionate airline and tourism expert: he began his career at Lufthansa Cargo back in 1990.
Since then, Bischof has held several senior positions. From 2006 to 2011, for example, he headed Lufthansa’s passenger business in North and South America.
Following this, he was responsible for the worldwide sales organization as a Lufthansa Passenger Board Member and Chief Commercial Officer.
In the three years as CEO of SunExpress, he successfully realigned the company, significantly expanded it and positioned it successfully in economic terms.
Bischof is a father of two and holds a Master’s degree in Management from McGill University, Montréal, Canada. In the past, he’s supported start-up companies as a seed investor and consultant.
Currently, Jens Bischof is a member of several supervisory boards engaged with the technology sector. His successor at SunExpress is Dr Max Kownatzki.