There is a change in management at the Swiss airline, as company boss Thomas Klühr is stepping down at the end of the year for personal reasons. The Board of Directors approved the request for release from obligations "with the greatest regret". Klühr has been with the Lufthansa Group for more than 30 years.

“The entire Board of Directors very much regrets Thomas Klühr's decision. Swiss owes a lot to him, not just during the last few months of the coronavirus pandemic. Klühr has led Swiss a very large step further on the path to success and after the outbreak of COVID-19, with great commitment and skill, made a significant contribution to stabilizing the company financially and operationally. Special thanks also go to Thomas Klühr for postponing his resignation, which had already been planned for the first quarter of this year, after the crisis began to emerge and for maneuvering Swiss confidently through this difficult period. We respect his decision to take this step, which was prompted for private reasons, and thank him sincerely for his great performance, ”said Chairman of the Board of Directors Reto Francioni.

After his resignation, Klühr will take a seat in the newly established Swiss Aviation Foundation. The Board of Directors will decide on the successor in the fourth quarter. At Swiss, Klühr was Chief Executive Officer for around five years. He will also resign from his position as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the sister company Edelweiss Air, according to Swiss in a press release.

“I would like to thank Thomas Klühr for his many years of dedicated and successful work for the Lufthansa Group. In more than three decades, he has shaped our company in various positions and roles. Thomas Klühr deserves the highest reputation not only in Germany and Switzerland, but in the entire aviation industry, ”explains Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr.

One of the conditions for issuing the federal loan guarantee was the establishment of a Swiss aviation foundation that monitors compliance with the location agreement between the federal government and the Lufthansa Group with regard to the development of the hub in Zurich. The federal government will provide the president and two other members. Swiss and Lufthansa will each have one member. One of them is Thomas Klühr. Reto Francioni: “We are happy and grateful that Thomas Klühr has agreed to take up a seat in the Swiss Aviation Foundation after his resignation as CEO of Swiss. With his vast experience in aviation and within the Lufthansa Group, he is virtually predestined for this new role ”. The other members of the Swiss Aviation Foundation will be determined in the fourth quarter.