While the end of the pandemic brought with it an ongoing boost in air travel numbers, not all airlines have been able to profit equally.
Some, like Delta Air Lines (DAL) , are on solid financial ground even as they struggle with meeting demand amid staff shortages and Boeing (BA) aircraft recalls. Meanwhile, low-cost carriers are subject to ongoing bankruptcy rumors or facing other disruptions: Spirit Airlines (SAVE) has been desperately trying to craft a new path after a judge blocked it from being acquired by JetBlue (JBLU) , while Southwest Airlines (LUV) is currently trying to resist an investor’s efforts to oust the CEO, Robert E. Jordan.
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The airline recently called a “problem child” is the European behemoth Lufthansa Airlines. At least that’s how Lufthansa Group (DLAKF) chief executive Carsten Spohr described the namesake airline of a larger parent company that also includes regional brands such as SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings in a Sept. 30 meeting with journalists in Frankfurt.
Lufthansa to no longer be ‘the problem child of the company,’ CEO promises
“We have to get Lufthansa Airlines back under control,” Spohr said at a reception ahead of the airline’s announcement of third-quarter earnings results on Oct. 29. “It is a clear goal that the crane airline will once again be the flagship and no longer the problem child of the company by its 100th birthday in 2026.”
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The “problem child” quip is a reference to the string of disappointing earnings calls and operational problems that have put the airline behind rivals such as Air France-KLM (AFRAF) .
In July 2024, the airline cut its earnings interest to fall within €1.4 to €1.8 billion from the previous range of €2.2 billion (roughly $2.44 billion USD) for causes it attributed to ongoing labor strikes in Germany, supply chain problems that delayed its plans to update certain planes and the slow recovery of corporate travel (from which a large chunk of the airline’s traffic came).
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Spohr: Lufthansa Airlines ‘caught at exactly the wrong time’
As such, Spohr has been talking of a looming turnaround by leaning on numbers showing second-quarter revenues rose by 7% even as expenses and losses also grew due to the aforementioned factors.
“We have once again experienced enormously strong demand, which has allowed us to deliver what is probably a very pleasing commercial performance in the summer,” Spohr said, while also adding that the aviation group was “just caught at exactly the wrong time” when it comes to fleet modernization and other problems.
Spohr also added the airline is currently flying 23 Airbus (EADSF) planes it had hoped to already retire while waiting for the 41 new Boeing planes it ordered to arrive. The aircraft manufacturing giant has been plagued with problems of its own as it faces a federal inquiry into its safety practices and alleged culture of pushing forward new releases at the cost of checks. The inquires have emerged amid a string of high-profile incidents like the blown-out panel on an Alaska Airlines (ALK) flight in January 2024.
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