He started his journalism career in 1992 as a freelance writer for Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Germany’s largest daily national newspaper and soon specialised in air transport. Jens joined Aviation Week and Aviation Daily in 2000 as one of the European correspondents. Later his role was expanded to cover international air transport. In 2013 he was named Managing Editor Commercial.
Jens frequently appears on radio and TV to comment on industry matters. In 2003, he received the Hugo Junkers Award of the German aviation press for his coverage of Fairchild Dornier’s bankruptcy. He was named the country’s top travel and air transport writer by the Travel Industry Club three times. Jens graduated from the Munich School of Journalism.
Iberia is stepping up its fight to lower pilot costs by using draconian measures. The airline plans to reduce pilot payroll costs by 20% or €62 million ($81.22 million) annually and improve productivity by 25% at the same time. Representatives of the pilot union, Sindicato Espanol de Pilotos de Líneas Aereas (Sepla), refused to show up at a meeting that was scheduled for April 17, to protest the measures.
Royal Jordanian Airlines CEO Hussein Dabbas has resigned in a surprise move. The company says Dabbas will leave in June to take another position that has not been disclosed. A Royal Jordanian official says Dabbas believed it was time for a change and for new ideas to develop the airline further. It is unclear who will succeed Dabbas, who had worked for the airline since 1979.
Virgin Atlantic Chairman Richard Branson seeks to “challenge every aspect“ of the European Commission’s (EC) approval for International Airlines Group (IAG) to take over rival BMI from Lufthansa. In the British newspaper The Telegraph, Branson wrote that the decision would “damage the British airline industry for years to come. However you look at the likely outcome of the BA purchase of BMI, you cannot find anything other than a serious erosion of competition at London Heathrow, leading to the consumer paying dearly.”
