Portrait and meeting with the CFO of Brussels Airlines, Nina Oewerdieck, who is back for another 5 years in a key function of the company. She had arrived in the midst of the covid crisis, she hopes to see the time for sustainable profitability.
On August 3, Nina Oewerdieck, CFO of Brussels Airlines, was able to announce a first quarterly profit, the harbinger of a hoped-for return to profitability for the whole of 2023. She also returned for 5 years in his position, with the firm hope of seeing the arrival of a “sustainable profitability” of the company.
Brussels Airlines has been a subsidiary of the Lufthansa group since 2018, and is therefore part of the professional career paths of the German company’s executives.
Safety plan
Before taking office, in mid-2020, in the midst of a health crisis, Nina Oewerdieck held the position of Vice President Head of Finance for Lufthansa German Airlines, in Frankfurt. Similarly, the Belgian Dieter Vranckx, who led Brussels Airlines in 2020, has since held the position of CEO of the company Swiss, another (very successful) subsidiary of the Lufthansa group. Currently, the position of CEO of Brussels Airlines is exercised by Dorothea von Boxberg, who previously led Lufthansa Cargo.
The function of the CFO is broader than the financial management of Brussels Airlines. “I’m also in charge of IT, human resources, suppliers and the legal department. She was also in charge of the company’s restructuring team.
By train and by bike
Nina Oewerdieck currently lives in Mechelen and regularly comes by train, or sometimes by bike, to her office at the operational headquarters of Brussels Airlines in Zaventem. “When I arrived in Belgium, during confinement, it was not easy to find an apartment in Brussels, my first accommodation here. It was almost impossible to meet people,” she recalls.
She was surprised to see the difference between road traffic during confinement and after. This is one of the reasons that pushed her to go to Mechelen…
From the Danish border
The CFO of Brussels Airlines is from northern Germany, above Hamburg, “near the Danish border. “It’s a region where there aren’t many big companies, I first went to Hamburg, the nearest big city. She worked there, already in finance, at Jungheinrich, from 1998, in management control. The company is a major player in the manufacture of forklifts. In 2001, she joined the Lufthansa group, first in Hamburg, at Lufthansa Technics, then at Swiss, in Zurich, at the headquarters of Lufthansa German Airlines, in Frankfurt. And now in Belgium.
She arrived in the midst of the covid crisis. “We were negotiating the rescue of the company. “Which notably went through support from the federal government, with funding of 290 million euros, repaid early well before its expiry in 2026. “It was not just a question of planes, 4,000 people depended on it. It was a big challenge, we had the pressure on us. »
Why stay?
The company reduced its fleet, its workforce, through a negotiated plan. It goes up the slope, recruits and adds planes, because the traffic returns. The year 2023 should be balanced. The objective is to achieve profitability at EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of 8%, the standard of the Lufthansa group. “I personally hope we will get there in 2024, it will depend on the cost of fuel and other factors. at the latest. It is crucial to generate sustainable profitability in order to be able to invest. »
Why did Nina Oewerdick want to stay in her post in Belgium? To complete the work of the Reboot Plus plan, which was launched during the covid crisis. Also because she enjoys life in Belgium and at Brussels Airlines. “Lufthansa is ten times bigger, changing things there naturally takes longer, here you can have an impact faster. »
“Our costs are pretty good”
One of its important functions is to monitor spending. “We are in the process of centralizing training in Brussels in a modern centre. It’s better and it’s more economical. Some expenses are shared within the Lufthansa Group, such as apps.
It denies the idea that Belgium would be an unfavorable country, in terms of costs, to develop an airline. “Our costs are quite good, but our revenues are different from those of other companies in the group, because we don’t have the same destinations. We are less present in the Atlantic, not at all in Asia. We also have the highest competition from low cost carriers within the group.”
