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.
Initiatives to boost operational efficiency and safety of the airline industry have run into stiff headwinds that are slowing the implementation of those efforts and have forced carriers to scale back some ambitions.
Jens Flottau (Frankfurt and Paris), Neelam Mathews (New Delhi)
The Cathay Pacific-Dragonair-Air China deal has created a powerful airline grouping that some fear is a monopoly that will lead to a battle among global alliances to align carriers. Following months of speculation, the carriers last week agreed on a new ownership structure: Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, a premium long-haul carrier, will take over the outstanding shares of Hong Kong's second-largest airline, Dragonair. Under the agreement, Cathay also doubles its stake in Air China to 20%, while Air China gets a 17.5% share of Cathay.
Serious questions surround Airbus's plan to revise its twin-widebody strategy. Concerns range from the program's timing, to whether it is targeting the right market segment, to the aircraft maker's ability to actually assemble the airplane. Airbus is not expected to formally unveil its new design for a few more weeks. The emerging aircraft family would replace plans for the A350, with hope of this time generating broad market interest. Getting it right is critical for Airbus, after botching the A350, which drew extensive criticism from key customers.
