Matthias Spohr joins Eurowings Executive Board as COO

Germany

The former Lufthansa Aviation Training chief returns to Eurowings to oversee flight and ground operations, safety, training and technical fleet management

Matthias Spohr has taken up his new role as Chief Operating Officer of Eurowings, returning to an airline where he previously spent six years in senior operational positions. The 56-year-old joins the Executive Board alongside CEO Max Kownatzki and CFO Kai Duve and assumes responsibility for a broad range of operational activities.

His remit includes Crew Operations, Flight Operations, Ground Operations and the Integrated Operations Control Center, as well as Safety, Security & Compliance Monitoring, Crew Training and Technical Fleet Management at Eurowings Technik. Spohr succeeds Edi Wolfensberger, who is moving within the Lufthansa Group to become CEO of Swiss leisure carrier Edelweiss.

The appointment brings an executive with both cockpit and management experience back to Eurowings. From 2015 to 2021, Spohr served as Head of Flight Operations at Eurowings Germany and as Nominated Person Flight Operations. Most recently, he was Managing Director of Lufthansa Aviation Training, where his responsibilities included the restructuring and relaunch of the European Flight Academy.

Return to familiar territory

“I’m thrilled to welcome Matthias Spohr back to Eurowings. He knows our company, our flight operations and, most importantly, the people who work with tremendous passion and personal commitment for our guests every single day,” says Eurowings CEO Max Kownatzki.

Kownatzki points to Spohr’s combination of aviation experience, familiarity with Eurowings and focus on innovation and teamwork. “Together, we want to shape the future of Eurowings and open the next chapter in our success story.”

Spohr’s aviation career began in 1990 with training at Lufthansa’s flight school in Bremen. While waiting for a cockpit position with the airline, he studied economics at Ruhr University Bochum and graduated with a degree in the subject.

From 1995, he flew Airbus A320 and A340 aircraft for Lufthansa. In 2005, he trained as an A320 captain with Condor Berlin before joining Germanwings in 2013 as Head of the A320 fleet. Two years later, he moved into his operational leadership role at Eurowings Germany.

Training business reshaped

Spohr joined Lufthansa Aviation Training in 2021. One of his central tasks there was the restructuring and subsequent relaunch of the European Flight Academy, Lufthansa Group’s flight school.

His tenure also included changes to the organisation of pilot training and the strategic realignment of the instructor model. Lufthansa Aviation Training simultaneously developed additional business areas and consolidated activities within its “Beyond Aviation Training” product division.

The measures were intended to strengthen the training company’s position within the Lufthansa Group while developing its activities beyond traditional pilot training.

Spohr now returns to an airline operation with direct responsibility for several of the areas that have shaped much of his professional career. As COO, he completes the three-member Eurowings Executive Board headed by Kownatzki, with Duve responsible for the airline’s financial activities.