Brussels Airlines CEO Dorothea von Boxberg is swapping aviation for the automotive industry. From 1 September 2026, she will join the Board of Management of BMW AG, taking responsibility for Human Resources and Real Estate, and will become the group’s Labor Relations Director.
The move is more than a conventional change of sector. At BMW, von Boxberg will oversee the human and organizational aspects of one of the company’s biggest transformations, as the German manufacturer cuts costs, adapts its industrial structure, and shifts toward electric, digital, and software-defined vehicles.
BMW Supervisory Board chairman Nicolas Peter said von Boxberg brings extensive transformation experience, a technical background, and an external view of the car industry. CEO Milan Nedeljković added that the group must continue adapting its structures and working methods.
Senior transformation manager
That suggests BMW is not merely hiring a new HR chief, but a senior transformation manager. As Labor Relations Director, von Boxberg will be responsible for relations with employees and works councils while BMW seeks higher productivity, simpler structures, and a workforce prepared for new technologies.
Her appointment also stands out because BMW usually fills top positions from within. Von Boxberg brings experience from another capital-intensive, highly regulated, and strongly unionized industry. Airlines, like carmakers, must keep complex daily operations running while reducing emissions, digitizing processes, and controlling costs.
Born in 1974, von Boxberg studied industrial engineering and business administration at TU Berlin and ESCP Paris. She began her career at Boston Consulting Group in 1999 and moved into aviation with Star Alliance Services in 2005.
She joined Lufthansa in 2007, holding positions in strategy, subsidiaries, and customer experience. In 2015, she joined Lufthansa Cargo as Vice President, Global Sales Management. Three years later, she joined its executive board, overseeing areas including sales, network planning, and product development.
In March 2021, she became CEO of Lufthansa Cargo and later also Chief Financial Officer. She led the business through a turbulent period in global logistics, including the COVID pandemic and severe supply chain disruptions.
Von Boxberg became CEO and Chief Commercial Officer of Brussels Airlines in April 2023. She also represented Lufthansa Group in contacts with the European Commission and joined the group’s executive committee.
She leaves Brussels Airlines after a period of recovery and renewed expansion. The carrier posted a record adjusted operating profit of €53 million in 2023, followed by €59 million in 2024. In 2025, revenue rose to more than €1.6 billion, and passenger numbers reached 9.1 million, although adjusted operating profit fell to €28 million, partly because of repeated Belgian strikes.
Unique opportunity
Von Boxberg said she was leaving aviation after more than twenty years because the BMW position was a unique opportunity to apply her experience in a new environment and make a lasting contribution. She described the decision as difficult and said Brussels Airlines had become more resilient and more profitable.
The step is also a major increase in scale. Instead of heading a relatively small Lufthansa subsidiary, she will join the top management of a global industrial group employing more than 150,000 people.
BMW has not linked the appointment to a specific job-cutting program. However, the timing is revealing. The manufacturer is intensifying efficiency measures amid weaker profitability, high investment costs, and fierce electric-car competition, which are putting pressure on margins.
Von Boxberg will have to balance lower costs and new working methods with the need to retain technical expertise, retrain employees, and preserve BMW’s traditionally cooperative relationship with German labor representatives.
Her predecessor, Ilka Horstmeier, is leaving by mutual agreement as BMW brings forward the succession in its HR portfolio. Lufthansa has appointed Lorenza Maggio, currently involved in group strategy and the integration of ITA Airways, as von Boxberg’s successor at Brussels Airlines.
By recruiting an outsider with experience in aviation, cargo, finance, and crisis management, BMW is entrusting the human side of its restructuring to a seasoned operator.
