Kuehne threatens to intervene at Swiss "If it becomes necessary, I could use this lever"

Klaus-Michael Kühne, a major shareholder, sharply criticizes Swiss and Lufthansa and threatens to intervene if no changes are made to business policy.

The Lufthansa share price has fallen by a whopping 20 percent since the beginning of the year. This development is not only causing shareholders to frown, but is also providing material for negative headlines. One of the most prominent shareholders, Klaus-Michael Kühne, is annoyed. The 87-year-old Hamburg resident, who now lives in Schindellegi, holds 20 percent of Lufthansa shares. This makes him one of the Group's largest investors.

With an estimated fortune of 35 billion Swiss francs, he is one of the richest Swiss. Kühne has publicly vented his anger - most recently in an interview with the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung".

"The comfort and standards at Swiss have fallen," Kühne sharply criticizes. He is particularly annoyed that Swiss often does not use its own aircraft. Instead, it relies on Air Baltic. "They may have modern aircraft, but it's a completely different product." Helvetic Airways, another partner of Swiss, also fails him. "They have very cramped planes. I had to fly it to Hamburg several times. That was very tedious."

Less legroom - more frustration

There are indeed serious differences in seating comfort between the airlines in the Lufthansa Group. Swiss still offers a Business Class with larger seats and more legroom on short-haul routes. However, Helvetic Airways and Air Baltic do not offer this option. Premium Economy is the only way to get a little more space here.

While the seat pitch in Premium Economy on Swiss is almost one meter, it shrinks to 84 centimeters on Air Baltic. Helvetic Airways does not offer Premium Economy at all. Here the seat pitches are between 76 and 81 centimetres. "That's hardly reasonable for taller people like me," says the 1.80 meter tall Kühne.

"Lufthansa has neglected its core brand"

But Kühne's criticism is not limited to Swiss. Lufthansa itself also comes under fire. "The core brand has been neglected. It is no longer in the same league as Emirates or the top Asian airlines." This development surprises the billionaire. "Despite all the German thoroughness and perfection, it is remarkable that it has come to this."

Kühne is also critical of Lufthansa's strategy. "The Group has got bogged down. There are too many ancillary products and airlines with different brands. This makes the structure confusing." He advocates simpler concepts. "A clearer business policy would also be good for the share price."

However, Kühne does not currently want to increase his stake any further. With his 20 percent, he already has enough influence, as only 40 percent of shareholders take part in the Annual General Meeting. "If it becomes necessary, I could use this leverage."

No quick decisions

Despite his criticism, Kühne remains cautious. "Depending on how the situation develops, we will have to be more vocal." However, he wants to avoid open conflict. "We don't want to provoke any unnecessary disputes." Nevertheless, one thing is certain: the investor has clear expectations of Lufthansa's management - and will not hesitate to defend his position if the situation requires it.

This article was created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). All content created by AI is verified by the editorial team.