Air Berlin CEO Eyes New Culture

Air Berlin needs more of an "anti-establishment" attitude to take on bigger rivals, its chief executive, as the airline nears the end of a fleet review to stem losses and reduce debt after an acquisition spree.

Germany's second largest airline, 29 percent owned by Etihad Airways, has made operating losses in four of the last five years. It is reviewing routes and its fleet of 140 aircraft as part of its efforts to return to profit in 2016.

The airline introduced a new revenue management system this year that enables prices to be matched more closely to demand, catching up with rivals who have long had such systems. In other ways though, it is trying to set itself apart.

Chief executive Stefan Pichler, who said there would be news on the capacity review in the next few weeks, said he wants to return Air Berlin to its roots.

"Joachim Hunold founded Air Berlin and gave it its meaning. He positioned it as a challenger and that was fantastic," Pichler, who was appointed in February, said at the FVW travel conference in the German city of Essen.

"We cannot be a smaller version of Lufthansa," Pichler said of Germany's biggest airline which has a fleet of over 600 planes across its brands.

Pichler, Air Berlin's fourth chief executive in the last three years, said the airline known for giving chocolate hearts to passengers, had "lost its heart" as it bulked up to copy rivals and he wanted to create a more "emotional" airline, collaborating with staff, rather than external consultants.

Air Berlin's current advertising campaign highlights its youth with the tagline "not established since 1978".

"If you're establishment, you're stuck, you can't move," Pichler said.

In a recent promotion in Berlin the airline drove a bus through the city offering free return flights to New York, Abu Dhabi and other destinations for those managing to attract its attention and hitch a ride to the airport.

Pichler said he thought consolidation among European airlines was at least a decade away.

"I think it will all change, but it will take 10 years or more before we see any consolidation in Europe," Pichler said, giving the US market as an example, where airlines have consolidated after years of losses.

"Now they're all making lots of money," he said.