13.05.2026 The MARG Visits the Lufthansa Group AGM

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The MARG Visits the Lufthansa Group AGM

Yesterday, the Management Accounting Research Group and members of the master course Advanced Management Accounting - International Corporate Governance had the pleasure of visiting the 2026 annual general meeting of the Lufthansa Group. For our students, this was a truly valuable experience: after discussing agency theory, ownership, shareholders, boards, executive remuneration, and stakeholder interests in class, they could observe corporate governance in action.

Lufthansa’s 100th anniversary added an interesting historical perspective. The CEO of Lufthansa Group, Carsten Spohr, reminded us that the first supervisory board of Deutsche Luft Hansa AG in 1926 consisted of 64 members, a governance structure reflecting the complexity of the merger between Junkers Luftverkehr and Deutscher Aero Lloyd, as well as the involvement of many banks and interest groups.

It was also impressive for the students to experience shareholder engagement first-hand. For example, representatives of institutional investors and representatives of retail investors raised critical questions on topics ranging from cabin design and risk management to conflicts of interest. Individual shareholders added very concrete observations on the customer journey, sometimes down to the question of whether a hotline can actually be found on the website.

Perhaps one of the most tangible governance lessons was observing how CEO Carsten Spohr referred to the chairman of the Supervisory Board as “my boss”, while both the Supervisory and Executive Boards patiently answered shareholders’ questions. This is exactly what we discuss in class — only much more vivid.

Many thanks to all those who participated in the excursion and we look forward to the next opportunity to bring theory and practice together!