{"id":27867,"date":"2026-07-08T19:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T16:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867"},"modified":"2026-07-08T15:45:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:45:24","slug":"heike-birlenbach-to-leave-swiss-after-36-years-with-lufthansa-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867","title":{"rendered":"Heike Birlenbach to Leave SWISS After 36 Years with Lufthansa Group"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>AVIATION NEWS-<\/strong>Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) announced that <strong>Heike Birlenbach<\/strong>, the airline&#8217;s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), will leave the company at the end of September 2026, concluding a distinguished 36-year career within the Lufthansa Group.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">Birlenbach, who has served as SWISS Chief Commercial Officer since the beginning of 2024, will pursue new professional opportunities outside the Lufthansa Group after stepping down. During her tenure, she played a key role in strengthening the airline\u2019s premium positioning and advancing several strategic initiatives aimed at enhancing the customer experience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">Under her leadership, SWISS introduced its new long-haul travel concept, <strong>SWISS Senses<\/strong>, expanded its customer strategy, strengthened partnerships within Switzerland, and accelerated the digitalisation and modernisation of customer services. She also initiated the repositioning of <strong>SWISS WorldCargo<\/strong>, contributing significantly to the airline\u2019s commercial development and long-term strategy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">Commenting on her departure, SWISS Chief Executive Officer <strong>Jens Fehlinger<\/strong> praised Birlenbach\u2019s contribution to the airline, highlighting her commitment to the company&#8217;s premium ambitions, customer-focused strategy, and leadership across the organisation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">As part of broader leadership changes within the Lufthansa Group, the Chief Commercial Officer position at airline level will be discontinued. Responsibilities related to customer experience will be assumed directly by CEO Jens Fehlinger, while SWISS WorldCargo will be integrated into the airline\u2019s Finance division to ensure a smooth organisational transition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"isSelectedEnd\">Before joining SWISS, Birlenbach held several senior leadership roles across the Lufthansa Group in London, Amsterdam, Milan, Munich, and Frankfurt, where she was instrumental in developing global sales operations, digital customer channels, and innovative service concepts.<\/p>\n<p>SWISS is Switzerland\u2019s national airline and a member of the Lufthansa Group and the <strong>Star Alliance<\/strong> network. The carrier operates one of Europe\u2019s most modern aircraft fleets, providing premium passenger and cargo services from its hubs in Zurich and Geneva while continuing its commitment to sustainability and high-quality customer service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AVIATION NEWS-Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) announced that Heike Birlenbach, the airline&#8217;s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), will leave the company at the end of September 2026, concluding a distinguished 36-year career within the Lufthansa Group. Birlenbach, who has served as SWISS Chief Commercial Officer since the beginning of 2024, will pursue new professional opportunities outside &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[96,98,102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world","category-companies","category-featured-en"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.9 (Yoast SEO v27.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Heike Birlenbach to Leave SWISS After 36 Years with Lufthansa Group - aviation news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Heike Birlenbach to Leave SWISS After 36 Years with Lufthansa Group\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AVIATION NEWS-Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) announced that Heike Birlenbach, the airline&#8217;s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), will leave the company at the end of September 2026, concluding a distinguished 36-year career within the Lufthansa Group. Birlenbach, who has served as SWISS Chief Commercial Officer since the beginning of 2024, will pursue new professional opportunities outside &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"aviation news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100088552298353\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-08T16:00:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/435_4.0a.heike_.birlenb_8425.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"371\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"adminnews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@aviationne428\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@aviationne428\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"adminnews\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?p=27867#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?p=27867\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"adminnews\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02e91cef3ca1560c153b683711401bd3\"},\"headline\":\"Heike Birlenbach to Leave SWISS After 36 Years with Lufthansa Group\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T16:00:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?p=27867\"},\"wordCount\":317,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?p=27867#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/435_4.0a.heike_.birlenb_8425.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Aviation world\",\"Companies\",\"Featured\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?p=27867\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?p=27867\",\"name\":\"Heike Birlenbach to Leave SWISS After 36 Years with Lufthansa Group - aviation news\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?p=27867#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?p=27867#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/435_4.0a.heike_.birlenb_8425.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T16:00:54+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?p=27867#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?p=27867\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?p=27867#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/435_4.0a.heike_.birlenb_8425.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/435_4.0a.heike_.birlenb_8425.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":371},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?p=27867#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Heike Birlenbach to Leave SWISS After 36 Years with Lufthansa Group\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/\",\"name\":\"aviation news\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"aviation news\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/aviation-news-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/aviation-news-logo.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":154,\"caption\":\"aviation news\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/profile.php?id=100088552298353\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/aviationne428\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/02e91cef3ca1560c153b683711401bd3\",\"name\":\"adminnews\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/aviationnews-inetrnational.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/aviation-news.info\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Heike Birlenbach to Leave SWISS After 36 Years with Lufthansa Group - aviation news","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Heike Birlenbach to Leave SWISS After 36 Years with Lufthansa Group","og_description":"AVIATION NEWS-Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) announced that Heike Birlenbach, the airline&#8217;s Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), will leave the company at the end of September 2026, concluding a distinguished 36-year career within the Lufthansa Group. Birlenbach, who has served as SWISS Chief Commercial Officer since the beginning of 2024, will pursue new professional opportunities outside &hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867","og_site_name":"aviation news","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100088552298353","article_published_time":"2026-07-08T16:00:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":371,"url":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/435_4.0a.heike_.birlenb_8425.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"adminnews","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@aviationne428","twitter_site":"@aviationne428","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"adminnews","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867"},"author":{"name":"adminnews","@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/#\/schema\/person\/02e91cef3ca1560c153b683711401bd3"},"headline":"Heike Birlenbach to Leave SWISS After 36 Years with Lufthansa Group","datePublished":"2026-07-08T16:00:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867"},"wordCount":317,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/435_4.0a.heike_.birlenb_8425.jpg","articleSection":["Aviation world","Companies","Featured"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867","url":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867","name":"Heike Birlenbach to Leave SWISS After 36 Years with Lufthansa Group - aviation news","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/435_4.0a.heike_.birlenb_8425.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-08T16:00:54+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/435_4.0a.heike_.birlenb_8425.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/435_4.0a.heike_.birlenb_8425.jpg","width":600,"height":371},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?p=27867#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Heike Birlenbach to Leave SWISS After 36 Years with Lufthansa Group"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/#website","url":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/","name":"aviation news","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/#organization","name":"aviation news","url":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/aviation-news-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/aviation-news-logo.png","width":500,"height":154,"caption":"aviation news"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100088552298353","https:\/\/x.com\/aviationne428"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/#\/schema\/person\/02e91cef3ca1560c153b683711401bd3","name":"adminnews","sameAs":["https:\/\/aviationnews-inetrnational.com"],"url":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/435_4.0a.heike_.birlenb_8425.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27869,"href":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27867\/revisions\/27869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aviation-news.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}