Airlines in the Lufthansa Group move even closer together

• Group Functions and hub airlines will operate in an even more integrated and networked manner than before
• The aim is to strengthen the competitive position of the hub airlines and increase efficiency and profitability
• Airlines will continue to be responsible for the customer experience

The Lufthansa Group is reorganizing cooperation within the company. The changes affect not only the structure of the organization, but even more so the processes, the financial management framework, and cross-group collaboration. This will bring the airlines within the group closer together and enable them to operate in an even more integrated manner in the future. The aim is to strengthen and expand the market position of the hub airlines Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, and Brussels Airlines in particular. Efficiency and profitability are also set to increase.

It has been clearly defined that the airlines will continue to make their own decisions about the customer experience of their guests. This applies, for example, to the in-flight product, catering, lounges in the home markets, and passenger service. The hub airlines will also remain responsible for the management of their respective flight operations and operational flight services.

In areas that are less visible to passengers, cooperation between airlines within the group will become even more integrated and connected, as is already the case in the area of loyalty with “Miles and More” or in the further development of the award-winning customer app. The App was developed centrally within the group, but the design and offers are tailored to the respective airlines.

In the future, network management for short- and medium-haul flights of all hub airlines will also be steered group-wide. This will be done in close coordination with the airlines. This model has already been successfully established for ten years for the long-haul offerings. This means that the steering of the entire commercial offering management will now be bundled under the responsibility of group-wide airline functions. Guests who already use more than one group company for their travel will benefit from an even better coordinated range of services. In addition, efficiency will increase, and decisions can be made more quickly.

Cooperation within the group will in future be managed primarily via so-called “Group Function Boards.” These boards include representatives from both the airlines and the group functions. Chaired by the respective Group Executive Board member responsible, topics will be discussed, evaluated, and decided upon transparently in a collaborative manner. In the Hub Steering Board, for example, these are primarily customer-related issues. In addition, a “Functional Financial Controller” will be represented on the boards for financial management. There will be a total of four “Group Function Boards”: Hub Steering, Technology, HR, and Finance.

To further strengthen digitalization and innovation, the IT functions will be consolidated in the department headed by CTO Grazia Vittadini. In addition, the digital units and competencies from the ‘Digital Hangar’ will be bundled with the ‘Innovation & Tech Factory’ in a new, central role in order to drive forward the technological progress of the Lufthansa Group. This further development will create group-wide central digital expertise in the areas of operations, customer, commercial, and corporate.

The target implementation date for the changes is January 1, 2026.