Christian Klick, the German Press Association’s (Luftfahrt-Presse-Club – LPC) Managing Director sent CargoForwarder Global the following obituary on Jürgen Weber. As former spokesman for Lufthansa and later the Star Alliance, Christian Klick personally knew the airline’s long-standing CEO from their many meetings and conversations. Here are his words:
“If we carry on like this, we’ll be bankrupt in eight weeks.” Words, spoken quite soberly by a deeply thoughtful Jürgen Weber, but they sounded like lashes to the addressees. Right after taking office in 1991, the executive had gathered Lufthansa’s top managers, following a Supervisory Board meeting.
Weber secured Lufthansa’s survival
At the time, no attendee of the small circle, and hardly anybody within the company could really imagine that the proud Lufthansa was almost insolvent. After all, the state-owned carrier had weathered many crises, was headed by ex-state secretary, Heinz Ruhnau, and enjoyed many years of substantial political support. As did German railway company, Deutsche Bahn, that can’t go bankrupt either. “Too big to fail.”
Jürgen Weber, however, saw things differently. He knew that only immediate and tough cuts could stabilize the proud Lufthansa and keep it in the air. This said, he broke the major tasks down into simple, manageable structures. The move created transparency, making it easier for others to understand the context, and the teams knew what had to be done now and fast. He himself also set to work with relentless energy.
He persistently led the work on splitting the previously strict hierarchical organization into more flexible units with result responsibility. The resistance to these plans was enormous, and not just within the company.
From red to black figures
To achieve a successful U-turn, he had to take along the proud and somewhat pampered workforce on a long, arduous journey. This he achieved by presenting small and convincing examples that everyone in the Group had to pull together and scale down personal ambitions. For example, the expensive BMW 7 Series that was granted to managers at a certain executive level, was immediately swapped for a slightly cheaper 5 Series car. He also kept a low profile when it came to his own expenses. When working in Frankfurt, Weber, who lived with his family in Hamburg, stayed overnight in Lufthansa’s spartanly furnished training center at nearby Seeheim, instead of booking a room in a five-star hotel.
Following the successful restructuring process, a new danger loomed. Globalization had picked up speed and Lufthansa, which was internationally not well enough positioned, was risking losing market share to competitors.
“Father” of the Star Alliance
In 1996, Weber came back from the USA where he had joined a private meeting with international business leaders. On the fringes of this gathering, the heads of five international airlines agreed to bundle forces by founding the Star Alliance. It did not take him long to convince his team of this vision. Without much fanfare, the foundations for the new international cooperation were laid at all levels of the Group.
In May 1997, the Alliance concept, which was revolutionary for aviation at the time, was presented to the public in Frankfurt. The rest is history. With 25 globally active members, the Star Alliance has become a model for international business cooperation, and not just in aviation.
Once an engineer, always an engineer
Jürgen Weber was a diplomat and tough negotiator in one person. Aircraft manufacturers, in particular, learned this lesson when they wanted to secure a major contract with Lufthansa. Weber, an engineer who made his way to the Executive Board via a career in technology, was prepared to go into the most thorough details in order to ensure the best solution for his airline.
Letting his employees gain experience on a long leash, challenging and encouraging them, characterized him as a highly respected manager. His strength was his ability to bring clarity to seemingly unsolvable problems. This enabled him to explain even difficult decisions in a credible manner and thus push through necessary changes. The touch of modesty that he demonstrated time and again helped immensely.
Even after his active time in management, this remained a trademark. Not so long ago, in an interview with the FAZ newspaper, he demanded that today’s company leaders should not lose sight of reality when it comes to their salary expectations.
Many of the LPC members will fondly remember the open relationship he maintained with the media in general over many decades – and with the Aviation Press Association in particular.
Christian Klick
