Christoph Franz

Christoph Franz (born 2 May 1960 in Frankfurt) is a German engineer and manager who served as chief executive officer of Lufthansa from 2011 until 2014.

Franz at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in 2013

Early life and education

Franz studied industrial engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt and completed his studies with a Ph.D. in economic sciences at the same university. He also studied at the École centrale de Lyon and conducted post-doctorate research at the University of California, Berkeley.[1]

Career

Franz joined Lufthansa in 1990. During that time, he was involved in Lufthansa's turnround following the Gulf War, when he served in the office of Jürgen Weber, the then chief executive.[2]

In 1994 Franz moved to German railway operator Deutsche Bahn. From 2004 until 2009 he was CEO of Swiss International Air Lines.[3]

From 1 January 2011 until 30 April 2014 he served as CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG as successor of Wolfgang Mayrhuber.[4] During his time in office, he sought to fight back against the budget airlines by eliminating duplication between Lufthansa's point-to-point short-haul services and Germanwings.[5] Also under his leadership, Lufthansa completed the sale of its UK subsidiary British Midland International to International Airlines Group.[6]

In 2011, Franz accompanied Chancellor Angela Merkel on an official trip to Kenya, Angola, and Nigeria.[7]

In 2013, Franz stepped down as chief executive of Lufthansa midway through the airline's restructuring programme to become chairman of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche the following year.[8][9] He had been a member of Roche's board since 2011.[10]

Other activities

Corporate boards

Non-profit organizations

References
  1. Member of the Board of Directors: Christoph Franz Zurich Insurance Group.
  2. Andrew Parker and Ralph Atkins (May 15, 2012), Lufthansa loss brings change in the air Financial Times.
  3. "Short biography Christoph Franz" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-09-05.
  4. "Christoph Franz appointed Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG effective 1 January 2011". Archived from the original on 27 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
  5. Andrew Parker and Ralph Atkins (May 15, 2012), Lufthansa loss brings change in the air Financial Times.
  6. Andrew Parker and Ralph Atkins (May 3, 2012), Lufthansa to cut 3,500 jobs Financial Times.
  7. Sebastian Fischer (July 12, 2011), Kanzlerin auf Reisen: Merkels afrikanischer Marathon Der Spiegel.
  8. "German airline Lufthansa names Spohr new CEO". 7 February 2014.
  9. James Shotter and Michael Stehen (September 16, 2013), Roche poaches Lufthansa chief executive Christoph Franz Financial Times.
  10. Caroline Copley (September 15, 2013), Lufthansa boss in line for Roche chairman job - paper Reuters.
  11. Board of Directors Chugai Pharmaceutical Co.
  12. Member of the Board of Directors: Christoph Franz Zurich Insurance Group.
  13. Silke Koltrowitz (March 6, 2014), Zurich nominates Roche chairman Franz as board member Reuters.
  14. Board of Directors Stadler Rail.
  15. JetBlue Airways Appoints Christoph Franz, CEO of Swiss International Air Lines, to Its Board of Directors JetBlue, press release of February 8, 2019.
  16. Board of Trustees Avenir Suisse.
  17. Board Baden-Badener Unternehmer-Gespräche (BBUG).
  18. Members European Round Table of Industrialists.
  19. Board of Trustees Lucerne Festival.
  20. Board of Trustees University of Zurich, Swiss Institute of International Studies (SIAF).
  21. Advisory Board University of Zurich Department of Economics.
  22. Advisory Board University of St. Gallen.
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