Stefan Pichler (born November 7, 1957) is a global airline and tourism Chief Executive. Most recently he was President and CEO of

Royal Jordanian Royal Jordanian Airlines (formerly known as Alia Royal Jordanian Airlines) is the flag carrier of Jordan with its head office in the capital, Amman. The airline operates scheduled international services over four continents from its main base at ...

. Previously, Pichler was the Managing Director and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Air Berlin Air Berlin plc & Co. Luftverkehrs KG (), branded as airberlin or airberlin.com, was a major German airline. At its peak, it was Germany's second-largest airline after Lufthansa, as well as Europe's tenth-largest airline in terms of passengers c ...

, served as Managing Director and CEO of

Fiji Airways Fiji Airways, formerly Air Pacific, is the flag carrier of Fiji. It operates international services from its hubs in Fiji to 27 destinations, and has an extended network of 108 international destinations through its codeshare partners, includi ...

, as the CEO of

Jazeera Airways Jazeera Airways K.S.C () is a Kuwaiti low-cost airline with its head office on the premises of Kuwait International Airport in Al Farwaniyah Governorate, Kuwait. It operates scheduled services in the Middle East, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, I ...

, Chairman and CEO of

Thomas Cook AG Thomas Cook AG was an Anglo-German, global travel group. The group had its headquarters in Rochdale, and sold products such as package holidays and flights through its 3 in-house airlines. On 19 June 2007, the group merged with MyTravel Group ...

and Chairman of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Tourismuswirtschaft, as well as Chairman of Fiji Tourism. Additionally, he has held Senior and Executive Board roles as a CCO at

Virgin Australia Virgin Australia, formerly known as Virgin Blue, is an Australian airline based in Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of two active airlines (the other being Virgin Atlantic) to use the Virgin Group, Virgin brand, as well as the larger by fleet ...

and at

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

. In November 2014,

appointed Pichler as CEO effective February 2015. After signing the restructuring deals with Lufthansa and Etihad, Pichler left to lead Royal Jordanian Airlines. Pichler then developed a turnaround plan for Royal Jordanian which helped to return to profitability by the end of FY 2017. Royal Jordanian also posted a sharp increase in the operating results and net income in 2018 and 2019. Pichler announced his retirement effective 30 September 2020.

Early life and education

Pichler was born and raised in

Munich, Germany Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. He received a master's degree in economics and law from the University of Augsburg and a post graduate degree from

INSEAD INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...

Career

In 1983, Pichler began his career as Head of Sport Promotions for

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine giv ...

Beaverton, Oregon Beaverton is a city in the Tualatin Valley, located in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon, with a small portion bordering Portland. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was ...

. Pichler became the Marketing and Sales Director of France for

in 1989. In 1991, Lufthansa appointed Pichler Managing Director for Lufthansa France, based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He was promoted to Head of Worldwide Sales for Lufthansa in 1996 and appointment as a member of Lufthansa's Executive Board the following year. In January 2000, Pichler was appointed

, a national

tour operator A tour operator is a business that typically combines and organizes lodging, accommodations, meals, sightseeing and transportation components, in order to create a package tour. They advertise and produce brochures to promote their products, holi ...

. He helped develop the company to the world's second largest leisure group. ''

Focus Focus (: foci or focuses) may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in East Australia Film *Focus (2001 film), ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based on the Arthur Miller novel *Focus (2015 ...

'' ranked Pichler number one on its list of the "Top 30 Tourism Managers" in 2003 for the third consecutive year. The following year he was appointed Chief Commercial Officer and Chairman of

. In 2009, Pichler joined

as CEO. In 2011, the airline's operating profit margin was the second highest in the global airline industry (25.6%) and in 2012, the margin was 30.2%. He received the "Personal Achievement of the Year Award" at the Aviation Business Awards for making the airline profitable in 2012. In September 2013, Pichler was appointed Managing Director and

. He was promoted to Chairman of Tourism Fiji in August 2014. Additionally, Pichler served as a member of the Board of Tourism Australia and held roles at the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Tourism Working Group of the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

. He has also held non-executive director of major German corporations including

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

and

Steigenberger Hotels H World International, formerly branded ''Deutsche Hospitality'' and ''Steigenberger Hotel Group'', is the umbrella brand of the German hotel chain company Steigenberger Hotels AG. Since 2020, it is a subsidiary of the Chinese Huazhu Hotels Gro ...

. In November 2014,

appointed Pichler CEO effective February 2015. With the support of Etihad Airways, Pichler developed a strategic restructuring plan which resulted in dividing the company into 3 separate business units: the first unit was to provide 40 aircraft to Lufthansa Group per wet lease agreement. the second unit, the touristic business including the Austrian daughter company Niki, was sold to Etihad Airways who invested this stake into a joint venture with

TUI Group TUI AG (trading as TUI Group) is a German multinational leisure, travel and tourism company; it is the largest such company in the world. TUI is an acronym for ''Touristik Union International'' ("Tourism Union International"). TUI AG was known a ...

. And the third unit, New Airberlin, was redesigned to become a network carrier serving the hubs in Duesseldorf and Berlin. All those deals were concluded in December 2016 were designed to enable a new start for airberlin which had lost over 3 billion Euros in the last 10 years. Also in December 2016, he announced his resignation as CEO of Air Berlin effective January 31, 2017 and left to lead Royal Jordanian into a turnaround.

Personal life

Pichler is a former internationally ranked marathon runner and ran for the German national team.

References

External links

*http://www.centreforaviation.com/analysis/jazeera-airways-turnaround-continues-to-show-results-57162 *http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/3237-Thomas-Cook:-New-cost-reduction-programme-Triple-C-launched *http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1621381.stm *http://www.focus.de/reisen/urlaubstipps/reise-die-top-30-tourismus-manager_aid_193680.html *http://www.aviationbusinessme.com/aviation/2012/nov/8/262715/ *http://www.wiwo.de/unternehmen/handel/air-berlin-wird-die-krisen-airline-jetzt-zerschlagen/14600750.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Pichler, Stefan 1957 births Living people Businesspeople from Munich German airline chief executives University of Augsburg alumni INSEAD alumni West German male marathon runners