A warm welcome to the incoming new CEO of Lufthansa Systems, a daughter company in the Lufthansa Group and a sister company to main airline.
It has appointed Stefan Hansen as CEO, effective immediately and succeeding Wolfgang Gohde, who left company after five years during most of which he was at the helm.
Hansen is not a newcomer to the company having served in its ranks before. But he arrives at a time of significant challenges for the Frankfurt-based business.
It has steadily seen its footprint diminish in passenger reservations (PSS) based on the Unisys Multihost system, particularly after the defection of Lufthansa Airline groups to Amadeus Altea.
It made an attempt at revitalizing its reservations systems business with the FACE project built on the Unisys platform ACE.
While the company has a large and experienced labour force – it does have a number of challegnes that the incoming CEO must now face.
These include what to do with the large data center in Frankfurt and how to drive a consolidated platform of products for the coming years.
At its peak it employed more than 4,000 people worldwide, either directly or on contract.
It has a tremendous portfolio of below-the-wing services (such as weight and balance) including its mainstay Profitline and Netline product lines.
However there is no denying that it has a tough road ahead in the next few years. A few years ago the company was being prepped for a spin out with a change in status to separate it from the rest of the group.
Several financial instruments were considered including merger, acquisition, etc. Today, options include merging or being acquired by another entity, the most likely candidate being Amadeus.
Nevertheless, we wish Hansen well with his challenges.