Sascha Unterbarnscheidt will become the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Accountable Manager of Discover Airlines from March 2025, after successful replacement at Eurowings. In this position, the present Head of Flight Operations at Eurowings will assume overall responsibility for the leisure airline’s operations. As part of the management team, he will also drive forward the strategic development and expansion of the airline together with CEO Bernd Bauer.
He succeeds Wolfgang Raebiger, who is leaving the company at his own request to pursue new professional challenges within the Lufthansa Group after taking some time out. Wolfgang Raebiger played a key role in the development of the airline, which today has over 2000 employees and 28 aircraft, from the very beginning, first as project manager and later as part of the management board.
Sascha Unterbarnscheidt (53) has over 25 years of experience in aviation. In addition to his many years of flying on various aircraft types at Lufthansa and Eurowings, he has held various management positions in the Lufthansa Group, for example as a consultant to the Lufthansa Chief Pilot, as Head of Standards Human Factors, Safety & Security Training or as Head of Operations Support Frankfurt. Until 2021, he headed the Airbus fleet for the pilots of the Lufthansa Airbus A320 Family in Frankfurt and was Deputy Head of Flight Operations at Lufthansa Airlines. In April 2021, Sascha Unterbarnscheidt moved to Eurowings as Head of Flight Operations. He is married and has two children.
“We are very happy to welcome Sascha, an expert with many years of varied experience, who is also very familiar with the special requirements of the leisure airline business from his time at Eurowings. Following the successful establishment of Discover Airlines, the signs continue to point to growth. Operational efficiency, stability and reliability will be important factors for our continued success. I am convinced that Sascha’s expertise and experience from significantly larger airlines will help us to successfully and sustainably master the next growth steps,” says Bernd Bauer, CEO of Discover Airlines.
“As one of the first to join the company, Wolfgang has helped to build Discover Airlines over the past four years. It is not least thanks to his tireless efforts as project manager and later as part of the management board that Discover Airlines has developed from a start-up to a successful globally operating airline in record time. With perseverance and skill, he has steered the constantly growing team through challenging times and has always been committed to an open and appreciative corporate culture that still characterizes our airline today. On behalf of everyone, I would like to thank Wolfgang for his commitment and the passion he has put into building Discover Airlines over the last few years and wish him all the best for the future,” says Bernd Bauer.
