New CEO at Lufthansa Industry Solutions: Jörn Messner takes over for Bernd Appel

The service company for IT consulting and system integration bids farewell to its managing director Bernd Appel, who has shaped the company into one of the leading companies in its sector. Succeeding him is Jörn Messner, previously Head of Flight Ops Support at Eurowings.

Norderstedt, July 1, 2021 – Jörn Messner will take over the position of Managing Director of Lufthansa Industry Solutions (LHIND), based in Norderstedt near Hamburg, on July 1, 2021. He succeeds Bernd Appel, who is leaving the Lufthansa Group as planned after more than 20 years.

In his new role, Jörn Messner intends to focus on growth and further development of the company and its culture. “Our goal is to align our processes even more closely with our customers and to bring our divisions together for more national and international growth,” says the 46-year-old, giving an initial strategic outlook.

“I look forward to the structuring task together with employees, customers, and partners.”

Jörn Messner
Managing Director

Bernd Appel had been on board the Lufthansa Group since 1997. As Managing Director and Senior Vice President, he headed various divisions of the Group, from which he formed today's Lufthansa Industry Solutions. The company benefited from his many years of experience in application development and IT consulting. Lufthansa Industry Solutions has thus been able to develop into one of Germany's leading IT consultancies, which is now one of the largest in the country. In the future, Bernd Appel will devote himself to new tasks outside the Lufthansa Group.

“It was a life's work for me to build up Lufthansa Industry Solutions and make it one of the most successful IT consulting firms in Germany. I am grateful to Lufthansa for giving me this opportunity many years ago. I am equally grateful to all those who have made LHIND's enormous growth possible – our customers and, above all, our highly qualified and highly committed colleagues,” Bernd Appel sums up. “I wish Jörn Messner every success for the future.”

“Through his strong commitment and strategic vision, Bernd Appel has made Lufthansa Industry Solutions what it is today. I would like to thank Bernd Appel for this impressive achievement and wish him every success in his next projects,” said Dr. Johannes Bussmann, Chief Executive Officer, Lufthansa Technik.

Jörn Messner can look back on a successful career with the Lufthansa Group and other companies. In the course of his career, the business administration graduate has held various management positions in the areas of flight operations, IT, and process management. Messner has been working for the Lufthansa Group since 2002, including around 15 years in a management role, most recently as Head of Flight Ops Support. With the onset of the Corona crisis, Messner took on the role of Emergency Director and steered Eurowings through the pandemic together with the crisis team and the management team.

“Jörn Messner will further enhance the innovation and competitiveness of Lufthansa Industry Solutions,” commented Dr. Bussmann. “With him, we were able to gain an experienced manager and proven doer who can map the rapid changes in the market at the product and structural level.”