Brussels Airlines has appointed a new CEO, the Belgian airline announced on Thursday. The position has seen German interim CEO Christina Foerster replaced by another German woman, Dorothea von Boxberg, who is currently head of the cargo subsidiary at the Lufthansa group, which Brussels Airlines is part of.
This is the second female director to manage the company in recent years, following the resignation of Peter Berber in January. Berber effectively ran Brussels Airlines for two years between 2018 and 2020.
“I am very pleased that Dorothea von Boxberg, an experienced and skilled airline manager from within Lufthansa Group, is assuming the leadership position at Brussels Airlines,” said Foerster. “With her extensive knowledge and broad understanding of cargo and passenger airlines, she will continue to drive the successful transformation of Brussels Airlines, Belgium’s national airline, in the coming years.”
Boxberg is a graduate of industrial engineering from the Technical University of Berlin. The 49-year-old started her professional career in 1999 at the Boston Consulting Group. In 2007, she joined the Lufthansa Group, where she held several management positions.
At the company, she was responsible for designing the customer experience of the Frankfurt-based airline. She notably helped to design a new business class offering for the company. In 2015, Boxberg joined the airline's cargo subsidiary, becoming its CEO within six years.
In addition to her role at the helm of Brussels Airlines, Boxberg will also assume the role of representative of the Lufthansa Group Executive Committee to the European Commission.
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One of the key priorities for the new CEO will be rectifying growing concerns over human resources and labour relations within the company. In January, pilots threatened strike action over pay but finally reached a pay agreement in February. Last year, a three-day crew and pilot strike led to numerous flight cancellations as staff complained of worsening work conditions during the busy summer.
In a comment to La Libre Belgique, Didier Lebbe, permanent member of the CNE labour union, said that the CEO needed to urgently address issues at the top of human resources: "If nothing is done urgently, things will go wrong."
