Lufthansa CEO Faces Hard Questions after Tragic Germanwings Air Crash

After an already troubled first year as CEO of Lufthansa, Carsten Spohr is now made to deal with the aftermath of the Germanwings disaster. The crash in the French Alps, believed to have been deliberately caused by co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, happened when Lufthansa is trying to hault declining ticket prices, expand low-cost operations, reduce staff costs and bring an end to a series of pilot strikes.

The airline company has incurred a hefty amount of loss since April and it has been further expanded by the crash that took place recently. The credibility of the airline company is in question. The graph of the company in the stock market has dropped down drastically after the crash which killed all 150 people on board a flight of Lufthansa's budget subsidiary, stressing that the airlines focus is on taking care of the victims families and friends.

The airline company which took pride for the toughest screening process for pilots and high standard training is not made to stand in the question box. "Our pilots are and will continue to be the best in the world," the visibly shaken CEO said after the revelations of investigators last week. Spohr, who joined Lufthansa as a manager in 1994 and ran its cargo and passenger units before becoming CEO last May, drew condemnation on social media for his initial refusal to reconsider cockpit regulations after the crash,. But since then the 48-year-old has mostly impressed with his honest, measured comments.

The investigators of the accident reported that the fault lies on Lubitz, who had locked the captain out of the cockpit and set the plane on a course to crash into the mountainside. Thus, the disaster seems to have been caused by one man, who is rumoured to have had illness, rather than any wilful negligence or technical failings on the part of the airline. This means the reputation and image of Lufthansa shouldn't take too much of a hit.

Gerald Wissel, head of the Hamburg-based Airborne consultancy, said the catastrophe was bringing the 120,000-strong workforce together. "Spohr could use the return of this solidarity to put Lufthansa on a new footing, to put the focus back on traditional qualities such as safety, quality and reliability," he said.

However, the company anticipates minimal changes in the working of its flights. "It was a big step to use Germanwings for European short-haul flights outside of Frankfurt and Munich and that commercial side of the business has to continue," Spohr reported.

The victims of the crash would be compensated with up to €50,000 per passenger in immediate financial assistance. German lawyer Elmar Giemulla said, families in these cases typically come together to negotiate with the airline. You can only achieve a settlement with negotiations and understanding from the other side and I believe Lufthansa does have understanding for the next of kin," he said.