Hofmann's recommendations

Niki Lauda about service on the plane

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Hamburg, May. An unusual invitation for an aviation journalist. The world premiere of the new Mercedes S-Class is on the agenda. The location, the Airbus plant in Finkenwerder. The line of black luxury cars alone caused quite a stir at the airport and in the Hanseatic city. And of course the event with thousands of guests, everyone who is anyone, has come. The entire Mercedes Board of Management is on site. And of course Niki Lauda. Aviation expert Kurt Hofmann spoke to the three-time former Formula 1 world champion and former airline entrepreneur about airline service after his retirement

Niki Lauda is a passenger on a commercial airliner. Does that exist?

Lauda. I always fly myself with my Global Express. For the Grand Prix, such as to Singapore, I use Singapore Airlines. At the moment, I'm observing aviation from a distance.

Austrian Airlines is reducing its service somewhat, as are others. With Europe's airlines, the service concept is fluctuating...

Lauda. When I look at it like this, time and again I realize that no solutions have been found. What I don't understand, whether it's Air Berlin, Lufthansa, etc., is that all the airlines are in crisis and don't realize that passengers are actually the business of an airline. That is an absolute mystery to me. And so they are becoming less and less different in terms of service.

AUA boss Jaan Albrecht recently said that people today are grateful to Lauda for the service innovations of the former Lauda Air...

Lauda. It is what Lauda Air had exemplified and now AUA appreciates. I am really pleased with what Jaan Albrecht said. But the real life that the airline offers its passengers is exactly the opposite. When you fly in Business, there's nothing that has an aha effect. The fact that it takes ages for food to arrive on long-haul flights, for example, is a logistical weakness. And as a result, the passenger doesn't remember this flight in the long term. If you act like this, you can paint all airlines white and sell them on price. Nobody thinks about satisfying customers. No airline has been better off because it reduced its service.

Any ideas on how to do it better?

Lauda. of course! It's the little things. Neither Lufthansa nor AUA and Air Berlin are thinking about something like this. it is incomprehensible to me. I have always taken a different route to offer passengers a flight experience at low additional cost. The others don't even think about it, no wonder the airlines in Europe are getting worse and worse. You only need to offer a good meal and not some stuff like snacks, which the airline gets for free as marketing deals. The airlines need to get their other cost drivers under control. Their losses are not due to catering.

Is Lauda planning a comeback in aviation?

Lauda: I'm fully occupied with my Mercedes job, which is really all about the small details. For example, I have to think about whether I'm driving the right tire strategy.

And how do you like the new S-Class?

Lauda: I am still amazed at what a car can offer in terms of design and beauty, technology and safety, how so much innovation could be incorporated, such as where a car can look ahead to prevent accidents. I'm getting my S-Class in the fall.

Missing the Airbus as a pilot flying yourself?

Lauda: At the moment I only fly my jet. And no, I don't miss flying the Airbus because I'm no longer in this business. So I don't need it anymore.

Kurt Hofmann

May 2013

Niki Lauda about service on the plane

Kurt Hofmann

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