Lufthansa CEO faces tougher times after Germanwings crash

Berlin

AFTER an already troubled first year as CEO of Lufthansa, Carsten Spohr must now deal with the aftermath of the Germanwings disaster whilst making the airline group fit to compete for the future.

The crash in the French Alps, believed to have been deliberately caused by co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, happened while Lufthansa is trying to halt declining ticket prices, expand low-cost operations, reduce staff costs and bring an end to a series of pilot strikes.

Mr Spohr, a qualified pilot, has been trying to follow the example of rival IAG, the parent company of British Airways, Iberia and Vueling, by cutting staff costs to make Lufthansa more competitive.

But the resulting strikes since April had already cost the airline over 200 million euros (S$295 million) in lost profit and distracted managemen…