Nov. 11—FRANKFURT — Lufthansa has appointed Remco Steenbergen as its new chief financial officer with a start date of January 1, a statement from the struggling German airline said on Wednesday.
Steenbergen, a 52-year-old Dutch national, currently serves as the chief financial officer for Barry Callebaut Group, a Swiss company that manufactures chocolate and cocoa products.
Lufthansa is hiring Steenbergen in the wake of two resignations from that post this year, and in the midst of turbulence for the company created by the coronavirus pandemic.
"Especially now, when the pandemic is having such serious consequences for air travel, an internationally experienced and well-respected CFO is more important than ever for Lufthansa Group," Lufthansa supervisory board chairman Karl-Ludwig Kley said.
Former Lufthansa chief financial officer Ulrik Svensson quit in April citing health reasons. Thorsten Dirks then took on key elements of the role but also resigned months later following Lufthansa's multi-billion-euro state bailout.
Chief executive Carsten Spohr has taken on the responsibilities of CFO in the interim.
Also on Wednesday, German pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) said its members would accept pay and benefit deductions amounting to 450 million euros (529 million dollars) in exchange for employment protection through the end of 2022.
If the pilots and Lufthansa do not reach an agreement on the matter before the second quarter of 2021, some 1,100 of Lufthansa's 5,000-strong core roster of pilots risk being made redundant as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Verdi union, meanwhile, said that an agreement had been reached so that 35,000 Lufthansa ground staff could keep their jobs through the end of 2022.
The agreement includes pay and benefit reductions amounting to some 200 million euros, as well as a part-time work scheme for older employees, Verdi said.
___
(c)2020 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)
Visit Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany) at www.dpa.de/English.82.0.html
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
