Growing Rumbles in the Skies
Ndubuisi Francis who was in Germany recently writes that Lufthansa German Airlines has assumed a larger-than-life image both within its country of origin and beyond
I must make a sincere confession here. Until my recent trip to Germany, my impression of Lufthansa German Airlines was that "it is one of those airlines". That impression was particularly reinforced by my perception that an airline that has operated for about 43 years in Nigeria should have an imposing corporate office in the country, among other landmarks. That perception however took a sudden (and I believe permanent) flight soon after I arrived the German soil.
I dare say that the airline epitomises everything you can think of about that European nation. From Frankfurt to Bremen, Munich to Berlin and beyond, Lufthansa colours assault your sensibilities, albeit positively.
At the Frankfurt Airport, you will be shocked at the share presence of the airline's fleet dotting the enire landscape. Other airliners sighted at the airport could be likened to a fish "doped out of the deep".
Luthansa Airlines is one of the six subsidiaries under the Lufthansa Aviation Group. Others are Lufthansa cargo (air freight and logistics travel), Luthansa Sky Chefs (catering), Lufthansa Systems (IT) and Thomas Cook (leisure travel).
Lufthansa German Airlines whose primary business is passenger service has grown so much that it is synonmous with air transporataion across the globe.
At the Frankfurt Airport, you come face to face with an atmosphere that would almost compel one to assume that the airport belongs to Lufthansa. Everything seems to have a seal of the airline. You are either seeing a Lufthansa staff, an aircraft, terminal, vehicle or building that has one thing or the other to do with Lufthansa.
The airline is currently constructing a massive edifice near the Franfurt Airport as its administrative offce. Near the airport, you also come in touch with its world class Flight Training Centre with state of-the-art facilities. This is a wholly owned subsidiary of the airline since 1997. With 499 employees and scattered in five locations across Germany, the school parades 31 full-flight simulators for 21 aircraft types as well as seven emergency simulators and four door trainers.
The Flight Training Center is peopled by over 80 highly qualified trainers who groom over 30,000 trainees enrolment yearly and graduate 300 pilots annually. It also oversees the training of 1,800 flight attendants each year.
The Flight Training School in Frankfurt/Main, Germany provides simulator training for pilots and cabin crews, computer-based training and aviation training as well as training for other businesses.
In Berlin, it also provides simulator training for pilots and computer-based training just as Bremen is saddled with the task of flight training, simulator training for pilots and computer-based training.
In Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America, practical flight training is provided while Vienna, Austria provides only computer-based training.
The history of the airline's Flight Training programme is as interesting as it is well planned. The founding of the Flight Attendant School in Frankfurt was in 1955. The Flight Training Center in Bremen followed suit in 1956 while the first training in a flight simulator commenced in 1957.
Among the things that make the Flight Training Center world class are classrooms with state-of-the art presentation and video technology, over 240 workstations and 970 desks, computer-based training rooms, 10 full-flight simulators for cockpit training, seven emergency simulators, four door trainers, training pool, fire extinguishing simulator and hands-on station for optimum emergency training.
The story of Lufthansa is incomplete without its technical arm, Lufthansa Technik.
This foremost aircraft maintenance organisation and the technical arm of Lufthansa German Airlines which hits an annual turnover of 4 billion euro, is a world leading provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services with over 60 maintenance stations across the world as well as 27 subsidiaries. It maintains the official aircraft of the German Chancellor, among others and has over 370 clientele worldwide.
It has enjoyed over 45 years of technical support from the two leading aircraft makers, Airbus and Boeing.
With a big engine shop in Hamburg, it overhauls between 400-500 engines there annually. Governments and other customers across the world send their aircraft to Lufthansa Technik for servicing.
Lufthansa Technik also has a design agency which configures the interior of an aircraft.
All in all, Lufthansa Technik looks after almost 400 aircraft from 90 airlines (of which around 250 machines are from Lufthansa).
After the recent tour of Lufthansa Technik's facilities, I quickly reflected on what the Nigerian Aviation Minister, Mallam Isa Yuguda said shortly after his recent visit to see what the German carrier parades in terms of technical competence.
The minister's visit was to, among others, compare notes with South African Airways (SAA) which is being positioned as the technical partner of Nigeria's proposed national flag carrier.
After the visit to Lufthansa Technik, the minister who was overwhelmed by what he saw said there was nothing wrong having it as the watchdog of SAA (the anointed technical partner). I could not agree more with him after my own visit.
You cannot talk about the Lufthansa Group without a mention of The Lufthansa Training Centre in Seehim, an astounishing edifice located in a sleepy, hilly forest of Seehim that parades everything good, from hospitality to knowledge. The centre which was started in the 70s has today become a citadel of knowledge, providing first class training in cargo business, among others.
There are indeed a lot that have made Lufhtansa first among equals. The aircraft has in its fleet 10 A340-600 aircraft reputed to be the longest aircraft in the world at the moment. The airline became the first in the world to introduce broadband Internet services on its longhaul flights. This means much more than fast access to the World Wide Web, e-mail or company intranet.. apart from this Lufthansa passengers can enjoy free use of the airline's FlyNet portal.
The airline seems to have been bitten by the bug of innovation, constantly aspiring to remain ahead of its rivals with first class products and services. Whatever it does either in its training, cargo, catering or travel lesiure seems to be guided by a desire for symphony with the skies.
|
