The German aviation industry mourns the loss of one of its icons: Juergen Weber passed away on Monday, 12MAY2025, at the age of 83. His name heads the list of outstanding Lufthansa executives.
The long-standing head of Deutsche Lufthansa joined the airline as an engineer and led Lufthansa as CEO from 1991 to 2003. His first task as chief executive officer of the airline, was a delicate one: he had to completely restructure the state-run airline, which was on the verge of bankruptcy. Due to a strong expansion course under his predecessor, Heinz Ruhnau, Lufthansa had piled up enormous debts. Weber’s countermeasure: he privatized the company and successfully streamlined the structures against strong resistance from the trade unions.
The father of two children and husband to Sabine, always advised his successors in the company not to give in to the pressure from the trade unions. “It’s better to let it come to a big bang before the company catapults itself out of the competition,” Weber once said.
Trends recognized at an early stage
He combined the outstanding technical knowledge he obtained as an engineer, with visionary concepts that enabled him to identify trends in aviation at an early stage and he accordingly carved out a future-oriented strategy for Lufthansa. One striking example was his initiative to form the Star Alliance, which was founded on 14MAY97. He realized that seamless passenger and air freight transportation could not be achieved by one company alone, not least because of the complicated flight regulations. Instead, it requires partners who operate large networks with efficient hub structures. The alliance’s founding members were Lufthansa, Air Canada, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International and United Airlines. Today, the world’s largest airline alliance consists of 25 members. However, the five-pointed star logo, which symbolizes the quintet’s founding airlines, has remained.
Upon leaving the Executive Board, he moved to the Supervisory Board of the crane airline.He was also appointed to other supervisory boards such as Hapag-Lloyd, Deutsche Post or insurance group, Allianz.
Weber shaped and molded the airline
“Jürgen Weber was rightly called ‘Mr. Lufthansa’,” the current Lufthansa CEO, Carsten Spohr paid tribute to him in a company press release. Weber had served Lufthansa his entire professional life and shaped the airline. “We Lufthansa employees owe Jürgen Weber a great debt of gratitude for his unparalleled scope of services which he has rendered to the Lufthansa Group.” Spohr, who himself holds a pilot’s license, began his own career at Lufthansa as Jürgen Weber’s assistant.
Nobody has shaped the soul of the company like Weber, emphasized Supervisory Board Chairman, Karl-Ludwig Kley. “Lufthansa, as we know it today, would be unthinkable without Jürgen Weber. During his years as Chairman of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board, he shaped and molded the company. He understood the unifying power of air travel. The founding of the Star Alliance and the expansion of Frankfurt Airport are largely his achievements. He had an equally strong impact within the company. No one else appealed to the hearts and minds of the employees as much as Jürgen Weber. No one else shaped the culture of Lufthansa as he did. We bow our heads in respect for the life’s work of an exceptional person. Jürgen Weber will always have a place of honor in the history of our company,” stated Karl Ludwig Kley, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa.
It is not least thanks to the multiple initiatives of Jürgen Weber that the Lufthansa Group, which now includes Swiss Air Lines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways, Air Dolomiti, Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Technik as well as other units, is today Europe’s largest aviation group with the highest turnover.
