 Peter
Gerber had barely just landed in the top spot at Lufthansa Cargo when
he was called upon to introduce an affectionate goodbye party a couple
weeks ago in Wiesbaden for his friend and colleague Andreas Otto, who
moved on to the top spot as COO at Austrian Airlines.
As November wound down, Herr Gerber was
out front celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the founding of Lufthansa
Cargo in November 1994.
But in a world where “what have you
done for me lately” is often less a question and more a demand,
Gerber will undoubtedly need to deal with some hard topics, including
what will happen when Lufthansa Cargo decides next year whether it will
build its long anticipated air cargo center of tomorrow at Frankfurt.
But Herr Gerber knows how to handle himself,
gliding with a comfortable ease through his introduction of the Otto celebration,
and now applying a sweet sauté to 20 years of Lufthansa Cargo with
a grace that portends a steady hand at the helm.
“The foundation of Lufthansa Cargo
as an independent company in the 1990s paved the way to a hitherto unheard-of
professionalization of airfreight,” Peter said.
“Cargo went from by-product to a core
business that now accounts for almost ten percent of sales for the Lufthansa
Group.”
Indeed, Lufthansa Cargo’s record since
1994 has involved fielding the largest European all-cargo fleet to maintaining
the most expansive, full-featured program of services of any cargo resource
in history, including the 2001 debut of the first around-the-world air
cargo service with stops in Chicago, Honolulu, Auckland, Melbourne, Kuala
Lumpur, Sharjah, and elsewhere.
Looking at tomorrow, Peter Gerber said:
“We are shaping up Lufthansa Cargo
for the future with the largest investment program in our company’s
history.
“Benefits include new efficient aircraft,
state-of-the-art IT, digital processes and, last but not least, the most
modern logistics center of the air cargo industry,” Peter Gerber
said.
Ever hopeful, proud of its rich history,
and respectful of folks from the past give Lufthansa Cargo a solid business
foundation upon which the next chapter will unfold in Frankfurt, where
Lufthansa Cargo is king.
Stay tuned.
Geoffrey/Flossie
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