Swiss is looking for a new CEO

Swiss CEO Dieter Vranckx is moving to the Lufthansa Group Board of Directors. This is the third departure from Swiss management in a few months.

Dieter Vranckx has been CEO of Swiss since 2021. He will move to the Lufthansa Group Board of Directors on July 1, 2024. He will continue to support Swiss as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors.

As Lufthansa Group's Executive Board Member for "Global Markets and Commercial Steuerung Hubs", the Swiss-Belgian will also be responsible for the areas of "Customer Experience" and "Group Brand Management", which were previously part of the "Brand & Sustainability" department.

"I am very much looking forward to the new challenge and to using my international experience in the Lufthansa Executive Board for the entire Group in the future. However, Swiss remains a matter close to my heart, it is my home," says Dieter Vranckx. "It therefore means a lot to me that I will continue to be closely associated with Swiss in the future."

"Dieter Vranckx took over the leadership of Swiss at a very difficult time - in the middle of the pandemic," says Swiss Chairman Reto Francioni. "He and his team have achieved an enormous amount. Not only did he manage to lead our airline quickly, successfully and competitively out of the global crisis in the aviation industry caused by the pandemic, but he also contributed to the stabilization of Swiss." Francioni highlights the successful conclusion of the collective bargaining agreements with the social partners of the employees on the ground, in the cockpit and in the cabin.

Third departure in a short time

Dieter Vranckx has held various management positions in the airline industry since 1998. He has been working for the Lufthansa Group for over twenty years, more than seventeen of which have been for Swiss and formerly Swissair. Prior to his appointment as CEO of SWISS, Vranckx was Chief Executive Officer of Brussels Airlines, also part of the Lufthansa Group. In previous years, the Swiss-Belgian dual citizen was Vice President for Sales and Marketing Activities of Lufthansa Group Airlines (Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings) in the Asia/Pacific region, based in Singapore.

The search for a successor has been initiated. After Commercial Director Tamur Goudarzi Pour and CFO Markus Binkert, CEO Dieter Vranckx is now also leaving the airline within a few months. Heike Birlenbach has been appointed as successor to Tamur Goudarzi Pour, while the succession of Vranckx and Binkert is still open.

Here is a shorter and more concise version of the text:

Swiss CEO Dieter Vranckx is moving to the Lufthansa Group Board of Directors. He will be replaced by Heike Birlenbach. This is the third departure from Swiss management in a few months.

Vranckx has been CEO of Swiss since 2021. He led the airline through the COVID-19 pandemic and helped to stabilize it. He is a Swiss-Belgian dual citizen and has been working for the Lufthansa Group for over twenty years.

Birlenbach is currently the Chief Commercial Officer of Swiss. She has been with the airline for over ten years and has held a variety of positions. She is a German citizen and has a degree in business administration.

The search for a successor to Vranckx is still ongoing.