From 25 April 2012, the Executive Board team of Austrian Airlines consists of Jaan Albrecht, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Karsten Benz, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).
Jaan Albrecht was born on 21 January 1955 in Puebla, in Mexico. He has dual Mexican and German nationality. Albrecht has a degree as an architect from the Technical University of Mexico, and speaks Spanish, English and German fluently.
Jaan Albrecht began his career as a pilot with the Mexican airline Mexicana at the age of 18. He worked there for 20 years, as First Officer, Captain and Chief Pilot of the airline’s Boeing 727 fleet, before switching to management in 1990. From 1990 to 1994 he worked as Senior Vice President Operations. In 1995, as Senior Vice President, Albrecht took over the management of Sales and Marketing. In 1998 he was appointed as Executive Vice President Commercial. As CEO of AeroPeru for two-and-a-half years, Albrecht managed the company’s privatisation and restructuring on behalf of Cintra, the parent company of Mexicana and AeroMexico. In 1999 he was appointed as CEO of Aeromexpress, the group’s cargo subsidiary. He was also Vice President Administration and Finance at IFALPA, the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations, from 1986 to 1990. Jaan Albrecht took over the position of CEO of the Star Alliance in 2001. He has made a decisive contribution to the expansion of the leading role of the Star Alliance in global aviation markets. The number of Star Alliance member airlines has since increased to 27 airlines under his management. Since 1 November 2011, Albrecht has belonged to the Executive Board of Austrian Airlines as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He is responsible for the divisions of Finance, Business Development & Corporate Strategy, Corporate Communications, Technical Operations, Human Resources & Organisation and Legal Affairs & Compliance as well as Internal Audit.
Karsten Benz was born on March 7, 1964 in Ludwigsburg, Germany.
Karsten Benz studied economics at the Universities of Cologne and Bamberg, and at Columbia Business School in New York. Benz began his career in 1990 by securing a position in Lufthansa’s accounting department. He rose to become head of the air carrier’s network strategy and fleet planning. He then went to become Lufthansa’s Head of the Europe Area. This position comprised managing a team of 1,200 employees and the responsibility for sales in 45 markets as well as for ground handling at 104 airports. Since April 1, 2012, Karsten Benz is Austrian Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). As such, he is a member of the carrier’s executive board. Benz’s responsibilities include International & Aeropolitical Affairs, Corporate Project & IT-Services, Ground Operations & Hub Management, Network & Revenue Management, Global Sales & Distribution as well as Product Management & Marketing.