Leipzig/Halle, Saxony-based carrier CargoLogic Germany has restructured its leading team after taking to the air just 9 months ago. The decision, backed by Russian investor Volga-Dnepr, comes as no surprise, and is intended to end a deepening rift between the different actors running the carrier. Whether this wish will be successful, however, is questionable.
These are the personnel changes:
CEO Johannes Armin Jaehn is out as per his own request, according to what he told the media. Yet, internal sources have pointed out to CargoForwarder that this is an incorrect statement because
he was fired. Jaehn was not available for comment.
He will be replaced by Dirk Naether, a leading manager at Leipzig-based Volga-Dnepr daughter, Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Service - AMTES. Prior to his AMTES tenure, Neather was
accountable manager of CLG and held various management positions at Leipzig Airport.
Former CFO Jan Bressler exited CLG as well, after his employer decided to terminate his contract during his probationary period. If he will be replaced and by whom is not known at this stage.
Deputy CEO and hence second man in the hierarchy will be Josef Niederl, a former Airbus manager from the aircraft producer’s Munich facility, who like Naether, will take on his new role on
01SEP20.
Ongoing differences
Particularly regarding Niederl, the opinions of the CLG staff differ. This is evidenced by the fact that a group of employees have recently written a letter to Volga-Dnepr owner Alexei Isaikin,
in which they characterize Niederl as "intolerable" and "incompetent" in his previous management function. Their main point, amongst others: Niederl tried to torpedo flights of
the CLG fleet (3 B737-400P2F) to China to fly personal protective equipment (PPE) from there to Europe to help contain the spread of Covid-19 and protect users against infection. In the end, the
supporters of the flights prevailed, and Mr. Niederl had to give up his resistance.
With his current promotion to deputy CEO, backed by Mr Isaikin and his local confidant Kristina Werwein-Wollmann, who heads Leipzig/Halle-based CLG affiliate Ruslan-Salis GmbH, the dispute
between part of the workforce and Mr. Niederl does not seem to be resolved. Hence, observers expect further internal disputes.
Thriving business
Apart from these differences, however, the airline's business is doing well, internal sources confirm. In addition to FedEx and other companies, DHL Express has become a new customer for whom CLG
operates feeder flights. Since the business model of the carrier that is provided with a nominal capital of €1,000,000, is based on the intra-European transport of e-commerce goods in cooperation
with major integrators, the surge in online orders during the COVID-19 crisis ensured high capacity utilization of its 3 B737-400 converted freighters.
Heiner Siegmund
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