Lufthansa has elected Karl-Ludwig Kley as new supervisory board chairman, effective immediately, following the resignation of former board chairman Wolfgang Mayrhuber Sept. 24.

Mayrhuber, who become chairman in 2013, said he deliberately implemented the change six months before the end of his term “in the interest of continuous development and a forward-looking development.”

Kley has been a member of the supervisory board since 2013. From 1998 to 2006, he was CFO of Lufthansa Group before becoming an executive board member of Merck from 2006 to 2016, serving as its chairman since 2007.

Mayrhuber, who has served Lufthansa for more than 40 years, began his career at Lufthansa in 1970 as an engineer in engine maintenance in Hamburg. In the following years, he held different management positions of all levels within the MRO division. 

In 2003, Mayrhuber succeeded Jürgen Weber as Lufthansa Group CEO. During his time as executive board chairman, he created the basis for Lufthansa Group’s current structure, acquiring and integrating SWISS and Austrian Airlines, investing in Brussels Airlines and establishing Germanwings. 

Kurt Hofmann, hofmann.aviation@netway.at