A well-ordered transition at the top of Lufthansa Group is underway with the announcement that heir apparent Wolfgang Mayrhuber will take over as chairman and chief executive from Jürgen Weber in June.
The change will take place at the group's annual general meeting (AGM) on 18 June. Although Weber's contract runs until the end of 2003, the AGM is a natural time to make the change, says Lufthansa.
Mayrhuber, 55, is a "born and bred" Lufthansa man, having joined the carrier in 1970 as an engineer. The Austrian was promoted through its maintenance operation to become chief operating officer technical of Lufthansa in 1992. He joined the group's executive board in January 2001. Weber signalled that Mayrhuber would be his successor in March 2002 as the end of his contract neared, and may even have left the carrier earlier but for the crisis that hit the industry in 2001.
However, the strong Weber/Mayrhuber partnership will still remain at Lufthansa. At the AGM it is likely that Weber, 65, will be elected to the supervisory board, most probably as chairman, replacing the current incumbent Dr Klaus Schlede, who could remain on the board or retire.
MARK PILLING LONDON
Source: Airline Business
