Belgian-Swiss Dieter Vranckx again chairman Brussels Airlines

Belgian Dieter Vranckx, who was previously CEO of Brussels Airlines, has again been appointed chairman of the board of SN Airholding, the holding company wholly owned by German airline group Lufthansa. He succeeds Christina Foerster in the position. The German, also a former airline CEO, is leaving Lufthansa.

Dieter Vranckx (51) already has a long career behind him within the Lufthansa group. From 2010 to 2013, he was Regional Director of USA Midwest and Canada at Lufthansa Cargo and later Vice President of Home Markets at Swiss International Air Lines.

From 2018 to 2021, he served at Brussels Airlines, first as chief financial officer and then as top executive.

Afterwards, Vranckx became CEO at Swiss. So now he is swapping that role for that of commercial director of the Lufthansa Group. Officially, he will be responsible for Global Markets and Commercial Steering Hubs. In addition to that role, he will also become chairman of Brussels Airlines.

‘Exciting future’

Vranckx, also a Swiss national, is considered the architect of Brussels Airlines’ reboot plan. Initiated before the pandemic, this restructuring should bring a slimmed-down Brussels Airlines to higher profitability levels.

Through voluntary departures and part-time work, among other measures, the number of compulsory redundancies could eventually be limited to 60, while initially 1,000 jobs were feared. At Swiss Airlines, Vrancks also led a restructuring.

“Brussels Airlines has been an important part of my career, and I am happy to return as chairman of the board of SN Airholding,” Vranckx says. “It is wonderful to see how far Brussels Airlines has come and what an exciting future this airline has in store.”