Christoph Franz

Swiss-German businessman

Christoph Franz (born 2 May 1960 in Frankfurt) is a German engineer and manager who was chief executive officer of Lufthansa from 2011 until 2014.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Christoph Franz (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born May 2, 1960.¹

Companies

LufthansaChief executive officer Jan 1, 2011 to Apr 30, 2014¹³
Swiss International Air LinesChief executive officer Jul 1, 2004 to Jun 30, 2009¹⁴

Early life and education

Date not recordedUniversity of California, Berkeley^{3 4}
Date not recordedÉcole Centrale de Lyon^{3 4}
Date not recordedEmlyon Business School^{3 4}
Date not recordedTechnical University of Darmstadt³

Franz studied industrial engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt and completed his studies with a Ph.D. in economic sciences at the same university. He also studied at the École centrale de Lyon and conducted post-doctorate research at the University of California, Berkeley.

From Wikipedia’s article on Christoph Franz (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: management engineer, entrepreneur, businessperson.⁹

2011 to 2014Chief executive, Lufthansa⁷
2004 to 2009Chief executive, Swiss International Air Lines⁶
Date not recordedWorked at Deutsche Bahn⁵
Date not recordedWorked at Hoffmann-La Roche⁵
Date not recordedBoard member⁸

Franz joined Lufthansa in 1990. During that time, he was involved in Lufthansa's turnround following the Gulf War, when he worked in the office of Jürgen Weber, the then chief executive.

In 1994 Franz moved to German railway operator Deutsche Bahn. From 2004 until 2009 he was CEO of Swiss International Air Lines.

From 1 January 2011 until 30 April 2014 he was CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG as successor of Wolfgang Mayrhuber. During his time in office, he sought to fight back against the budget airlines by eliminating duplication between Lufthansa's point-to-point short-haul services and Germanwings. Also under his leadership, Lufthansa completed the sale of its UK subsidiary British Midland International to International Airlines Group.

In 2011, Franz accompanied Chancellor Angela Merkel on an official trip to Kenya, Angola, and Nigeria.

In 2013, Franz stepped down as chief executive of Lufthansa midway through the airline's restructuring programme to become chairman of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche the following year. He had been a member of Roche's board since 2011.

Corporate boards

Deutsche Bahn, Chair of the Supervisory Board (since 2026)

Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS), Member of the Advisory Board

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Member of the Board of Directors (since 2017)

Zurich Insurance Group, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2014)

Stadler Rail, Member of the Board of Directors (since 2011)

Swiss International Air Lines, Member of the Board of Directors (2009-2016)

JetBlue, Member of the Board of Directors (2008-2011)

From Wikipedia’s article on Christoph Franz (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

BornMay 2, 1960, Frankfurt¹⁰
CitizenshipGermany, Switzerland¹¹

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

1
WikidataChristoph Franz on Wikidata
2
WikipediaChristoph Franz on Wikipedia
3
WikidataChristoph Franz: education, on Wikidata
4
Wikidataeducation, as reported
5
WikidataChristoph Franz: Worked at Deutsche Bahn, on Wikidata
6
WikidataChristoph Franz: Chief executive, Swiss International Air Lines, on Wikidata
7
WikidataChristoph Franz: Chief executive, Lufthansa, on Wikidata
8
WikidataChristoph Franz: Board member, on Wikidata
9
WikidataChristoph Franz: occupation, on Wikidata
10
WikidataChristoph Franz: place of birth, on Wikidata
11
WikidataChristoph Franz: citizenship, on Wikidata
12
WikidataChristoph Franz: Bloomberg profile, on Wikidata
13
WikidataLufthansa, Chief executive officer
14
WikidataSwiss International Air Lines, Chief executive officer

Companies

Early life and education

Career

Corporate boards

Personal life

Links

Sources