Lufthansa introduces a corporate programme designed to expand its leading position worldwide
“D-Check” is the name of the new corporate programme to ensure that Lufthansa remains competitive. 
With it the aviation group aims to secure its leading position in the airline industry worldwide now and in the future. “We must place our company success on a sustainable basis. Qualified growth must remain our goal,” Lufthansa chairman and CEO Jürgen Weber said today at the annual press conference in Frankfurt. 

The project has been called “D-Check” for good reason. The D-Check is the name given to the most comprehensive routine inspection an aircraft undergoes. When an aircraft enters the D-Check it is fully airworthy. It is examined down to the last detail, and completely overhauled, giving it, in effect, a new lease of life. Similarly, the new programme “D-Check - Maintaining Leadership” will subject the Aviation Group to a meticulous examination. “D-Check” is a preventive measure, much like the routine check-ups we undergo to prevent illness. As a forward-looking company, Lufthansa is taking this action to plan for its future and provide an additional financial cushion. “The Group will be put on the test bench and totally overhauled in order to secure its competitiveness,” said Weber.

The object of “D-Check” is to raise efficiency levels, thus making processes and procedures leaner, faster and better. The ultimate aim is to secure and improve the company`s value on a lasting basis. The programme has been devised for a three-year period. The first financial results are expected in 2002; from 2003 a cash-flow contribution of a billion euros is anticipated.

Lufthansa is making “D-Check” a central component of its strategy of value-based man-agement. As a corporate programme it will have an impact on all the Group`s business segments. Processes and structures will be thoroughly examined in terms of time, quality and costs, and wherever necessary, improved.

By simplifying complex processes “D-Check” will play a significant part in easing staff workloads; fine-tuning our processes will also improve the service for Lufthansa custom-ers. “Our shareholders should ultimately experience an increase in the value of the company, since we will boost our competitiveness, open up attractive opportunities for expansion with new technologies and secure profitable growth,” Jürgen Weber added.

Lufthansa has continually developed new trends in the airline industry and set standards which serve as a benchmark for the rest of the sector. With its philosophy as an Aviation Group and the Star Alliance initiative it has attained a leading position in the market, which has strengthened its competitiveness on a sustained basis. Experts agree that the company is strategically well positioned and financially robust. Today Lufthansa is in excellent shape and in a much better starting position that most of its competitors.
“D-Check” will ensure that it remains so.

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