Carsten Spohr has run Lufthansa through a decade that included some of aviation’s worst shocks, and his focus this year has stayed on the unglamorous work of making a sprawling airline group run efficiently. The German carrier sits at the centre of a network that stretches across several European brands.
Consolidation has been a recurring theme. Spohr has argued that Europe has too many airlines and has positioned Lufthansa as one of the consolidators, a stance that keeps the group in the middle of the continent’s aviation politics.
Costs and reliability are the everyday battles. Passengers judge an airline on punctuality and service, and delivering both across a group this large is a constant strain, particularly when staffing and infrastructure lag demand.
Spohr’s challenge is to keep Lufthansa premium enough to justify its fares while efficient enough to compete. It is a narrow path, and he has walked it long enough to know how quickly conditions can turn.
