Jens Ritter, CEO of Lufthansa Airlines, recently went undercover to work as a flight attendant on flights to Bahrain International Airport (BAH) and King Khalid International Airport (RUH) in Riyadh.
Ritter shared his thoughts on the experience in a LinkedIn post, stating that in order to gain new insights, it is necessary to change one’s perspective.
“I have been working for the Lufthansa Group for many years. But I have never had the opportunity to work as part of the cabin crew,” Ritter said.
Ritter qualified as a captain on the Airbus A320 at Germanwings in 2014 and had been a commercial pilot for Lufthansa since 2000.
“I used to fly as a pilot and so I thought I knew about the challenges a flight during the night entails. But to be present and attentive and charming – when the biological clock just tells you to sleep – was something entirely different,” Ritter added.
Jens worked in the economy cabin on the flight back to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) after serving in the business class cabin on the flight to Riyadh.
“I was amazed by how much there is to organize, especially, if something doesn’t go as planned – for example, the meals offered on the menu cards were not exactly the meals loaded on board. It was so interesting to address the guests’ wishes individually, to deal with the different energy everyone has,” Ritter said of the experience.
Ritter said that after the stint, he had decided that things in the office would “be different after really feeling the decisions on board.”
Ritter is not the first executive from an airline to hold a flight attendant position.
She is no ordinary KLM flight attendant. This is none other than the airline CEO herself, Marjan Rintel. Spotted serving passengers aboard a flight from Los Angeles to Amsterdam, this hands-on leader is in her inaugural year as the CEO. pic.twitter.com/E8Tvm9Mud6
— K a r e n (@AndthenIsleep) May 30, 2023
During a flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (AMS) in May 2023, KLM CEO Marjan Rinterl also assisted passengers.
Photo Cover Credit – Jens Ritter LinkedIn
