Harry Hohmeister will take up his new role on July 1st

Harry Hohmeister, chief executive of Swiss International Air Lines, has assumed the role of chief officer group airlines and logistics with Lufthansa.

At the same time Bettina Volkens has been confirmed to the position of chief officer corporate human resources and legal affairs with the German carrier.

Following a meeting in Cologne, the supervisory board of Deutsche Lufthansa appointed the two new members to the group’s executive board.

The two new members succeed Stefan Lauer, who will be stepping down from his position on June 30th, 2013 by mutual agreement with the executive board and the supervisory board after serving on the Deutsche Lufthansa AG executive board for 13 years.

Volkens and Hohmeister are both drawn from the company’s own ranks.

Volkens currently heads the group’s human resources division, while Hohmeister is chief executive at Swiss International Air Lines.

Both will continue in their previous positions in addition to taking on their new responsibilities. 

Jürgen Weber, chairman, Lufthansa supervisory board, said: “By splitting the executive board position of chief officer group airlines & corporate human resources, we enhance the company’s fitness for the future from a management perspective as well.

Hohmeister has been chief executive of Swiss International Air Lines since July 2009.

After graduating in aviation management, he then spent most of his career at Deutsche Lufthansa.

In more than 14 years at the company, Hohmeister’s duties initially involved fleet planning and development, plus European flight planning.

He then worked on restructuring the sales and marketing division while also heading network planning before being appointed to the SWISS management board in 2005, where he was responsible for network and alliance management.

Lufthansa is considered Europe’s Leading Airline by the World Travel Awards.

IATA

Breaking Travel News caught up with Harry Hohmeister at the recent IATA annual general meeting in South Africa.

Take a look at our exclusive interview, here.