The former Chairman of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board and Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Jürgen Weber, passed away yesterday at the age of 83.
Karl Ludwig Kley, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG:
«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».
Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG expressed his deep sympathy on behalf of all employees of the Lufthansa Group:
«Jürgen Weber was called Mr. Lufthansa – and rightly so. He dedicated his entire professional life to our company and shaped it. Like no other, Jürgen Weber embodied the renewal of Lufthansa during its restructuring and privatization in the 1990s. Crucial decisions and developments at Deutsche Lufthansa AG are – and will remain – inextricably linked to his name. We at Lufthansa owe Jürgen Weber a debt of gratitude for his outstanding service to the Lufthansa Group. Our thoughts are now with his family».
Jürgen Weber joined Lufthansa as a young engineer in 1967, and, following a rapid rise in the technical department, was appointed to the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG in 1990. He led the company from 1991 to 2003 as CEO and was Chairman of the Supervisory Board from 2003 to 2013, after which he remained Honorary Chairman of the Supervisory Board until his passing. During his time in office, he was not only responsible for the reorganization, restructuring and privatization of the airline with the crane on its tail, but he also set Lufthansa back on course to success, demonstrating his strategic foresight already in the 1990s. As one of its founding fathers, Jürgen Weber created the Star Alliance – still the largest global airline alliance today.
