Insider – Air-Berlin-Chef prior to the withdrawal – Frankfurter Rundschau

17. December 2016

Wanted to focus the company again on the travel and tourism business, but the major shareholder, has something about it: Air Berlin CEO Stefan Pichler. Photo: imago/Eibner

it was Only in February 2015, Stefan Pichler took over the post of CEO at Air Berlin. Now Pichler stands in front of the Off – on pressure of a large shareholder. The successor could come from the Lufthansa.

Berlin

Air Berlin CEO Stefan Pichler shall, after nearly two years in office, industry insiders suggest that soon. Pichler had to go to the pressure of the Air Berlin major shareholder Etihad, said two persons familiar with the issue on Saturday to Reuters. “The days of Pichler at Air Berlin are over,” said one of the Involved. Pichler’s task was completed with the realignment of the second largest German airline. As the most promising successor to Ex applied-Germanwings-Chef Thomas Winkelmann, currently for the Lufthansa air traffic in Munich. Air Berlin wanted to give no opinion.

relationship shall be broken

The former Thomas Cook Manager Pichler had assumed the post of CEO of the Lufthansa competitors in February 2015. Prior to that, he had managed Airlines in Australia, Kuwait and the Fiji Islands. Air Berlin was already in a deep crisis, after the founder and long-time-in-chief, Joachim Hunold, after initial successes in the tourism transport the company to the Lufthansa wanted to build rivals. A faster expansion rate, and Acquisitions of about DBA and LTU, but hardly followed. According to experts, the airline was in too many business fields at the same time.

Pichler wanted to focus the company shortly after his arrival back on the travel and tourism business. Shareholder Etihad, which holds nearly 30 percent of the shares and the airline with a financial injection of more than a billion euros under the arms of the handle, stopped the advance, however. Since then, the relationship is considered broken. The “Bild am Sonntag” had first reported about the withdrawal of Pichler’s.

Air Berlin drove in the first nine months a loss of 317 million euros. Only thanks to a very generous prize from Etihad for one-half to the daughter, Niki, Air Berlin comes on turnover of weak Winter. In order to achieve a reversal of the trend, the Berlin most of the routes to tourist destinations to the Lufthansa and a new joint venture with the holiday airline Tuifly. At the same time 1200 of 8600 jobs. (rtr)

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