Big Raise in the Offing

A story in the German news magazine, Der Spiegel, set off a clamor among the non-elite, as it gave voice to a rumored increase in salaries for the airline's Board positions. Board Chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber, the magazine reported, would receive, not the €62,000 ($72,800) he's currently earning, but €165,000 (roughly $194,000) per year. The Executive Board's membership was lowered from five, to four members, in April. "Leaner structures, and as a result, even more efficient lines of decision are Lufthansa's answer to the changed conditions in global competition," Mayrhuber explained at the time.

German reports say that a company spokesman confirmed the rumor over the weekend.

It depends on your definition of "cost: management."

Mayrhuber said in April that the airline will succeed, due in part to cost management: "We are developing a management structure which prepares us for handling the competition and the challenges of the future. In this connection, quality, innovation, a high service and customer orientation as well as clear cost management take a top priority."

This, at an airline that lost over €350,000,000 in the first quarter. OK -- so "Wolfgang Mayrhuber" isn't a household word where you live. Can you say, "Don Carty?"

FMI: www.lufthansa.com