Today’s fashion is to lead by example. CEOs begin to leave their offices to learn about the work of the people who support the businesses, that is, the workers who are in contact with customers and represent the company in the world. In this sense, the CEO of the German airline Lufthansa, Jens Ritterhas joined this trend and has become a ‘flight attendant’ More than one night flight between Frankfurt and Riyadh.
Ritter has wanted to provide service to passengers to help the team of flight attendants and stewardesses and also to learn about the airline’s service first hand. On the outbound trip, Ritter accompanied the travelers in Business class, while on the return trip he did the same in Economy class. “Sometimes it is necessary to change perspective to acquire new knowledge,” he explained in a post published on his LinkedIn account.
The manager has been with the company for years, beginning his career as a pilot in 2000, flying mainly in the Airbus A330 and A340, before beginning to hold management positions within the group until ending up as CEO of the airline. In this sense, Ritter has emphasized that he had never had the opportunity to work as part of the cabin crew and has stated that “it was very interesting and also quite a challenge.”
“I used to fly as a pilot and that’s why I thought I knew the challenges of a night flight. But being present, attentive and charming – when the biological clock only tells you to sleep – was something else entirely,” he explained about it.
Ritter isn’t the first boss seen working in the booth in recent months. In May, he met the executive director of KLM, Marjan Rintel, serving passengers on a flight between Los Angeles and Amsterdam. Like Ritter, Rintel’s actions were met with a mixed response from the public. The clients wanted to imply that these officials should be concentrating on other things and that they are wasting their time. Others, meanwhile, were supportive of the idea, emphasizing that this is what good leadership looks like.