Annette Mann

in Interview

That’s something the AUA team can be proud of!

Austrian Airlines/CEO Interview Annette Mann

In March of this year, Annette Mann took over as CEO of Austrian Airlines. The flare-up of the Ukraine war and the associated high fuel costs as well as the still lingering after-effects of the Corona pandemic present the new Austrian manager with a number of challenges. But anyone like Annette Mann, who worked for the Lufthansa Group for nineteen years, has learned to live with the constant ups and downs of the industry.

tip magazine asked the 43-year-old manager for an interview after half a year in office.

Interview

In the past two years, the number of employees has declined massively. Where will AUA go in terms of personnel?

Annette Mann: AUA has downsized by about 20 per cent, we are now at 5,500 employees, as planned in the restructuring. The actual restructuring and staff reductions have been officially completed, we have also announced this internally. We are very happy that we have achieved this without any layoffs. We already hired 200 new flight attendants in the spring. We are also currently recruiting for next summer in the cockpit and cabin. In addition, we are actually recruiting across the board, i.e. in all disciplines and in all areas. This means that we currently have about 100 vacancies in the administrative area and 200 to 300 in the operational area.

How difficult is it to find staff at the moment?

It varies a lot. We were positively surprised, the 200 flight attendants were really easy to find. You get the impression that after two and a half years of pandemic, people are keen to get out and discover the world with us again.

What opportunities do you have as a company?

We are currently changing and investing in our recruiting process. This includes, for example, a Welcome Day or structured onboarding. We have also just introduced the possibility of working abroad in Europe for up to 30 days. Most Austrian employers only allow home office within Austria. We have now found a regulation that allows you to spend 30 working days in Europe. That fits well with an airline and is an issue especially for young people.

Salary is always an issue. Maybe less so for pilots, but very much so for flight attendants. Where do you see AUA in this respect?

We are constantly looking at this and it is difficult to give a general answer. For all of them, because the ongoing salary sacrifice naturally hurts in view of rising inflation, we have used the regulation as an employer, according to which you can pay out up to 3,000 euros tax-free. We have promised all employees four times 500 euros for this year – so that you have an extra 2,000 euros in your account to cushion the increased cost of living somewhat, in addition to what the government is doing. We are still somewhat limited at the moment because we are still under the state aid package, but we are constantly exchanging information with the works council and I think we have found a good solution for this year. For 2023 we are looking at what we can do.

You took office as Managing Director of Austrian Airlines in March, what was your first impression?

A pandemic with two years of short-time work, uncertainties and months in which AUA didn’t fly at all – that doesn’t leave no trace on a company. The airline industry is also affected: we have taken the maximum downward swing, but we are also one of the industries that has shot up the most from this low point. Two years of short-time work and suddenly being able to ramp up to 100 per cent is something you have to get used to and is demanding. Processes have to settle in again, We as a board team spend a lot of time going out. I flew with them several times in the summer to make contact. We go to the airports, we are present. We also help out sometimes and see, for example, how abandoned suitcases are returned and also help out ourselves. We also had our own campaign with colleagues from the headquarters who helped out in the baggage hall and that builds team spirit. To pull off a summer like this, in which the numbers were really good, is something we are all proud of. While others had to cancel a lot of flights, we flew 99 per cent of the flights. And July was the most successful month in the company’s history so far.

Also thanks to the good cooperation with Vienna Airport?

Absolutely, that played an important role. We were well prepared in terms of personnel as well as in our cooperation with the airport and air traffic control, and I think that paid off. That is something the AUA team can be proud of!

And your goals for AUA?

AUA is and will remain the constant in the Austrian skies. We have survived the hard times with the low-costers, when six low-cost airlines were fighting over the location. Now we have survived a pandemic, still have 5,500 jobs and a decent fleet. And we are still Austria’s airline with a network. That is also important for the country. One is point-to-point, to bring tourists to Vienna. The other is to be a network airline that connects Austria and operates long-haul routes. We are still that and we want to continue to strengthen that.

Annette Mann

You do not expect a positive result this year. Are further cost-cutting measures necessary in order to return to profit in the future?

Not from today’s perspective. Why do we believe that it will still not be enough this year? Because the start was simply very weak. In the first quarter Omikron overshadowed everything, there were many restrictions. As a result, it only started to pick up in May/June – that was simply very late. The second issue was that the cost of paraffin rose so steeply this year. These were effects that could not have been planned for before. It also takes time to catch up. But we have succeeded well. If this continues, I expect that we will be in the black next year.

During the pandemic, Austrian changed its thinking and the holiday flight segment gained in importance. Will this trend continue or do you already see an increased demand for business travel again?

Coming from the outside, I would not have felt that a rethink had taken place here. From the Lufthansa Group’s point of view, AUA has always been very strong in the tourist segment and that is also the reason why there is no secondary market in Austria. In Switzerland there is Swiss and then explicitly Edelweiss, because Swiss is not so entrenched in tourism. In Germany, Discover is now a second brand. Especially in comparison with the other Group airlines, AUA has always been strong in the tourism sector. This has also helped AUA, because this was the segment that came back the fastest. The still strong increase in bookings shows that the share of business travel is also increasingly coming back. Already in spring, but especially now after the summer holidays… There is obviously pent-up demand here. People want to see each other again in person.

With winter just around the corner, how satisfied are you with the advance bookings?

So well that we are even starting the warm water destinations earlier this year than last year. I would recommend anyone who wants to get away over Christmas to book as soon as possible. The first flights to Bangkok are already fully booked.

Is the Business Class booked up accordingly?

Yes, we are indeed seeing an increased demand for Business Class and also for Premium Economy Class tickets. That is also the reason why we are making Premium Eco on the Triple 7 (Boeing 777) even bigger. This has already been done on the 767. Business Class is also on the rise again within Europe, both for tourists but also for business travellers. Employees are also becoming more demanding when travelling on business and we expect this to lead to more premium demand in the medium term.

After an interruption of three years, you started again this summer with direct flights to Los Angeles. How satisfied are you with the results on the long-haul routes in general and with the USA connections in particular?

The connections are commercially very successful routes, the demand especially across the North Atlantic was extremely high. We were virtually fully booked on the USA routes for weeks. In this respect, it is an absolute drawing card.

The Los Angeles connection will be offered again from March 2023?

I assume so!

What happened to Boston, Austrian Airlines wanted to add the East Coast city to its route network in March 2020?

Boston, unfortunately, fell victim to the pandemic.

For the first time in 16 years, Austrian Airlines has taken delivery of a new aircraft (A320neo). Is this the start of a major fleet rejuvenation programme?

In the Group, we have the philosophy that aircraft are replaced after around 30 years at the latest, so you can assume that there will be more in the next few years. But one thing at a time. You also have to be able to finance it.

Martin Dichler

tip 2022-10

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