“Seen From Above, the World Has No Boundaries.”

Claudia, you’ve been in the cockpit at Lufthansa for 19 years, and you, Frederik, for 35 years. When did you discover your passion for flying?

Claudia Hummel: While I was studying law, because that was far too theoretical for me. I still remember my mother saying to me: “Now think about what you want to do instead!” That was just before I went to visit my brother in France. When I was sitting on the plane, I thought: flying – that’s it!

Frederik Niedner: That’s funny: I studied law too, and I felt exactly the same way. When a friend told me back then that he’d passed the test at ​the Lufthansa flight school, I thought to myself: I’ll give it a try too and see what happens. When it worked out, I dropped out of school. Even after 35 years, I can say it was the best decision of my life. Especially when I think about all the things I’ve been able to experience thanks to my job.   

After all this time, are there still places in the world you haven’t seen?

Frederik Niedner: Oh yes, there are plenty. Australia and many countries in South America and Africa are still blank spots on my map. But it’s incredibly enriching that we get to go to so many places that you’d probably never visit as a tourist. For example, many years ago I was in Tehran, and I have to say, I have almost never in my life met people as incredibly friendly and interested as they are there. Once you get out among the people, you usually get a much more positive picture of a country.   

Claudia Hummel: Frequently flying long-haul routes like we do means you come into contact with cultures that are very different from our own. Depending on how far away a destination is and how often we fly that route, you also spend more time there than at destinations in Europe – at least 24 hours, but often 48 or 72 hours.   

What moment do you particularly enjoy about flying?

Frederik Niedner: Takeoff and the moment when the landing gear retracts and it suddenly gets quiet in the cockpit. That's when the best part of the flight begins. On the ground, things are usually pretty hectic. Technicians are on board, the pursers have questions, the plane needs to be refueled…

Claudia Hummel: I really enjoy flying manually, and there's always a sense of accomplishment when you pull off a smooth landing.

You often view the world from above. What feelings does that evoke in you?   

Claudia Hummel: I find it absolutely fascinating to see the world without borders. When viewed from the air, you realize that we are all one. I especially love flying over the Himalayas or the Alps. The view of megacities, which look like a gigantic carpet of lights at night, is also impressive. It’s really interesting to see where we humans have spread out and what that does to the planet.   

Frederik Niedner: I can’t get enough of this world. It’s especially beautiful to fly from ​Cape Town to ​Munich during the day. You move from one climate zone to another and can watch as the landscape becomes greener and greener toward the equator, where it rains a lot. The view of the Sahara is particularly spectacular when the light is just right. That’s when the wind-sculpted structures of the desert really stand out.

Over 5,000 pilots work at Lufthansa, so it’s rare for the same team to be in the cockpit. How do the captain and first officer coordinate with each other before takeoff? And what exactly do they discuss?

Frederik Niedner: We meet at the Flight Operations Center two hours before departure for a briefing and to review the flight documents. This is a relatively time-consuming process and builds on the preparation we’ve already done at home. We discuss the latest weather information, any irregularities along the flight route and at the destination airport, and after about 30 minutes, we decide together how much fuel to load. This always depends on the weather and if we expect any delays on approach. We then consult with the cabin crew and board the aircraft together one hour before departure. By then, ideally, we’re already a good team.   

As captain, how do you ensure a good working atmosphere?   

Frederik Niedner: First impressions are very important when working in changing teams. That’s why, before departure, I shake hands with every crew member, smile at them, and introduce myself by my first name. Being able to ask anything at any time and trust one another is very important on board. As a crew, we have to quickly form a unit.   

Claudia Hummel: Nevertheless, you also need a hierarchy on board. You can tell who holds which role by the stripes on our ​uniforms. At the same time, it’s very important in the cockpit that the captain and first officer work together as equals. Mutual oversight is part of our training.

On every flight, there’s always a "pilot flying" and a "pilot monitoring." When do you decide who takes on which role?

Frederik Niedner: We decide that during the briefing. On very long routes, there are actually three of us in the cockpit. That’s why we always ask the group beforehand: who needs to make a landing? We have to make three landings every 90 days. The "pilot flying" handles the takeoff and the landing. The captain can also be the “pilot monitoring.” That means I handle radio communications, assist with tasks, monitor the situation, and do everything I can to make life as easy as possible for the "pilot flying."   

On which routes are there three pilots in the cockpit?

Frederik Niedner: We fly to the east coast of the US or India as a pair. For all destinations that are farther away, we fly with three pilots so that one of us can always rest in between. There is a bed behind the cockpit for this purpose. Especially on night flights, it’s good to be able to close your eyes for a few hours.    

As a passenger, you can’t see who’s sitting up front in the cockpit. Because of this, how important are the in-flight announcements? 

Frederik Niedner: A calm voice that reassures passengers that everything is fine, for example during turbulence, is definitely important.   

Claudia Hummel: When there’s heavy traffic at an airport or we have to make a go-around, it can sometimes take a moment before we check in from the cockpit. Nevertheless, we always make sure to keep passengers informed in the event of irregularities.

Is it true that the captain and first officer aren’t allowed to eat the same thing before takeoff?   

Frederik Niedner: At home, everyone can eat whatever they like. But during the flight, we never eat the same thing. That’s actually mandatory.   

Claudia, have you ever been in the cockpit with another female pilot?

Claudia Hummel: That has happened a few times – most often on short-haul flights. On long-haul flights, however, there aren’t that many female captains yet.   

When I started, about seven percent of the pilots at Lufthansa were women. Since then, that percentage has only risen slightly. Nevertheless, working in this profession felt completely normal to me from the very beginning. Only at the very start of my career, when I was just 23 years old, did a passenger ask me as I was disembarking if I already had a driver’s license. I replied, “Nope, but I don’t need one, because I’m already flying this plane.”   

About

Senior First Officer Claudia Hummel has been with Lufthansa since 2007. She started out at Lufthansa Cityline flying the Avro RJ85 on short-haul routes and now flies the Airbus 350 on long-haul routes for Lufthansa. A mother of three, she has also been involved in pilot training since 2025. She wants to encourage young women to pursue this career. Partly because the job of a pilot is easy to balance with family life: “I have three children and I enjoy the fact that in my profession, work and private life are clearly separated,” says Claudia Hummel. “When I’m at home, I’m off duty and mentally fully present for my children.”

Captain Frederik Niedner began his career in 1992 as a first officer at Lufthansa. He has been a captain since 2006 and has been training new pilots on various aircraft types since 2009. He is currently the Chief Training Captain for the A350/A380, responsible for long-haul cockpit training in Munich.