Personnel changes on the SWISS Board of Directors

Reto Francioni succeeded Bruno Gehrig as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS). Bruno Gehrig and Christoph Franz have stepped down from the Board; and Doris Russi Schurter has been newly appointed to its ranks.

The Board of Directors of Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) reconstituted itself following the General Meeting. Bruno Gehrig has retired from the Board, having joined it in November 2010 and served as its Chairman for just under six years. Prior to this, he had been Chairman of the Swiss Air Transport Foundation for a five-year period. “Bruno Gehrig has devoted all his energies to ensuring the future and the further development of the SWISS brand within the Lufthansa Group, and has led the company into a new era,” attests Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board & CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

The new Chairman of the SWISS Board of Directors is Reto Francioni. The new incumbent served as CEO of Deutsche Börse AG Frankfurt/Germany from 2005 until May 2015. He has also been Professor of Applied Capital Markets Theory at the University of Basel since 2006. His previous positions include various further executive functions, such as Chairman of the Swiss Exchange in Zurich, Co-CEO & Management Spokesman of Consors AG, Nuremberg and a member of Corporate Finance Divisional Management at Hofmann-La Roche, Basel. He has also worked for Credit Suisse, including service in New York; and he began his professional career with UBS in Zurich. “We are delighted that in Reto Francioni we have appointed to head the SWISS Board of Directors not only a seasoned professional from the business and financial sector but also an individual who is highly regarded and respected in both Switzerland and Germany,” comments Carsten Spohr.

Christoph Franz has also stepped down from the SWISS Board of Directors after almost seven years as a member and as Deputy Chairman thereof. Franz was elected to the Board in October 2009, having served as SWISS’s Chief Executive Officer from 2004 to 2009. “Christoph Franz turned SWISS around and then successfully integrated the company into the Lufthansa Group,” Carsten Spohr observes. “And we offer him our sincere thanks for all his work in setting and keeping SWISS on such a successful course.”

Doris Russi Schurter has been appointed to the SWISS Board of Directors as Christoph Franz’s successor. A native of Lucerne, an attorney-at-law and a former partner at auditing and accountancy company KPMG, Schurter already sits on the boards of directors of several major corporations. She is also President of the VSUD, the Association of Swiss Companies in Germany.

Harry Hohmeister, Montie Brewer and Jacques Aigrain remain as the further members of the SWISS Board of Directors.