I think it’s fantastic when airlines have goals, and want to invest in their passenger experience. However, I can’t help but think that there’s a fine line between committing to improving, and being delusional.
Lufthansa’s CEO has some very, very, very big goals
On April 7, 2026, aeroTELEGRAPH interviewed Lufthansa CEO Jens Ritter (in German) on the Luftraum podcast, which has just been released. Since the name Carsten Spohr is often thrown around in the context of Lufthansa, let me point out that he’s the CEO of Lufthansa Group, the parent company of Lufthansa (and SWISS, Austrian, etc.).
This is a big year for Lufthansa, as the airline is celebrating its 100th anniversary. This was supposed to be the year where everything at Lufthansa turned around, from the passenger experience, to improved profitability (Lufthansa is the least profitable airline in Lufthansa Group).
So, how does Ritter see the current state of things?
- Ritter says that Lufthansa’s “goal is crystal clear,” and it’s “to become the number one premium airline in Europe”
- Ritter thinks that Lufthansa is “very, very well positioned, especially for the anniversary year”
- Ritter claims that Lufthansa is “operating as punctually and reliably as we have in ten years”
- Ritter says this is a year of a “firework display of innovations,” with a new plane being delivered every two weeks, while the onboard experience is being revamped, in terms of both hard and soft product
- Ritter acknowledges that “operating an airline in the heart of Europe, with the highest operating costs, is a major challenge,” and the solution is “to work on both sides – a top-quality product for good revenues, but also keeping our costs under control” (in other words, keep setting up new subsidiaries to cut costs
My take on Lufthansa’s goal to be most premium
Admittedly the word “premium” is being thrown around way too much by airlines nowadays. The word doesn’t actually mean a whole lot anymore, especially if you look at it on a global scale (like US carriers bragging about how premium they are, while carriers like Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines still exist, last I checked).
But look, here’s my fundamental issue with Lufthansa management’s messaging — they’re just not realistic about what the company is, and therefore they continue to set completely unrealistic goals, and consistently miss them.
The prime example of this disconnect is Ritter bragging on April 7 how Lufthansa is “operating as punctually and reliably as we have in ten years.” Three days later, employees starting staging back-to-back-to-back-to-back strikes, which ultimately grounded the airline for around a week.
Did he really not see those strikes coming, or how do you brag about operational reliability, when you basically shut down for a week? And that says nothing of Lufthansa shutting down its CityLine subsidiary overnight to spite employees, leaving many travelers stranded.
Why can’t Lufthansa just set a realistic goal? “Hey, we’d like to be able to compete with British Airways on product, and increase our profits.” That would be a totally fair and realistic goal.
Ritter is making an absolute term — he wants Lufthansa to be the number one premium airline in Europe. I’ve argued that Air France is Europe’s most premium global airline, and it’s not even close. So how does Ritter plan to overtake Air France? Again, he’s not just claiming he wants to catch up, but that he wants to beat every other airline.
So I’ll let Ritter pick any customer segment, as I’d love to hear how Lufthansa will accomplish that? How will Lufthansa’s short haul economy or business class experience be better than Air France’s? How will Lufthansa’s economy, premium economy, business, or first class product be better than Air France’s?
We’ve heard Lufthansa management parrot this “we’re going to be the best in Europe” over and over, but the only thing missing is any substance.
There’s one other point we have to make, and I say this as someone who has a soft spot for Lufthansa (believe it or not), and as someone who is 100% German (in terms of both of my parents being immigrants from Germany, and all of my relatives still living there).
In terms of consumer perception, Germany just isn’t sexy. People look to France for food, wine, fashion, etc., and that just doesn’t extend to Germany. That’s a major uphill battle Lufthansa has in terms of being perceived as premium by customers, especially when you stack that with Lufthansa’s built-in challenges, like high operating costs, which make it hard to over invest to make up for that defecit.
So I’d encourage Lufthansa management to change their tune — aim to be good enough, and to actually deliver on the improvements you want to make (in other words, not taking seven years to actually start installing a new business class). But the “Europe’s most premium airline” thing just isn’t going to happen.
Bottom line
Lufthansa’s management is reiterating the goal of becoming Europe’s number one premium airline. The airline is currently the least profitable carrier in Lufthansa Group (SWISS has 10x better margins).
While Lufthansa is making progress in terms of its fleet renewal and introducing new cabins, that only allows the airline to catch up with the competition, as I see it, rather than actually leading the industry. I wish Lufthansa could just embrace a realistic goal, of offering an elevated experience and improving its margins, rather than pretending that it’s the Singapore Airlines of Europe (which is just not going to happen, realistically). Love ya, though… sort of.
What do you make of Lufthansa’s premium aspirations?
