Lufthansa Stories Tour the Globe

Flight attendant Pia Eutin talks with her warm, friendly manner about encounters above the clouds and shared experiences – and how many individual stories form something that connects us all

“Many stories, one sky.” That was the title Pia Eutin gave her concept for the special “Iconic Moments” livery. Her design features puzzle pieces, small airplanes, and a bright, open sky in soft pastel colors – a visual expression of diversity, encounters, and the stories people share with one another. “The idea of the puzzle pieces actually came to me in a flash of inspiration,” Eutin recalls. What mattered most to her was highlighting something positive and emotional. “A person is shaped by experiences, beliefs, and stories that form who they are.” Puzzle pieces, she says, are the perfect symbol for this: “They can be exchanged, passed on, replaced, and complemented.” The fact that the motif is intentionally bright and friendly not only reflects the idea behind the illustration but also her own empathetic nature. The use of blue and yellow references Lufthansa’s colors, while the soft pastel tones also reflect what Eutin wants to express with her artwork: lightness, openness, and human connection. 

The 33-year-old has been part of the Lufthansa team for around a year and a half. She began her training as a flight attendant at the end of 2024, after previously working in hospitality and spending several years at Düsseldorf Airport. Today, she mainly works on long-haul flights out of Munich to destinations in North America, Asia, and the west coast of the US. “I just wanted to see it all from above,” she says with a laugh. 

It was this perspective above the clouds that also shaped her idea of a “shared sky.” “So many people are up there in airplanes, carrying their own stories,” she explains. Some are traveling on their honeymoon, others are saying goodbye. “The sky is the same everywhere,” Eutin says. “No matter how many miles lie in between.” 

She also experiences her daily work on board as something deeply connecting. “Lufthansa unites a diverse range of people – this also applies to us as employees,” she says. The first time a crew meets is often during the briefing. “Everyone contributes their own input, and that’s incredibly inspiring. On board, it all comes together.” 

Many of her conversations with passengers have stayed with her to this day. One encounter that particularly moved her was with an elderly couple who were going to visit their grandchild for the very first time. “It was really touching.” 

With her design, Pia Eutin therefore wanted not only to depict diversity, but also to highlight the warmth between people: “When you value human connection and feel grateful for it, the world becomes just a little bit better.”  

"This special livery design commemorates an extraordinary Antarctic mission during the COVID-19 pandemic – and tells a story of teamwork, hope, and solidarity at Lufthansa." 

Jörg Pelger discovered a photo of a Lufthansa flag in the Antarctic ice on the company intranet – and the image has stayed with him ever since. “It really captured something special,” recalls the Lufthansa Senior Project Manager. “That sense of team spirit in a place that is essentially inhospitable to human life.” On January 31, 2021, an Airbus A350-900 (“Braunschweig”) departed on what was then the longest nonstop flight in Lufthansa’s history: a 13,700-kilometer (8,500-mile) journey from Hamburg to the Falkland Islands – in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and subject to the strictest quarantine protocols. On board were scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, along with crew members of the research vessel Polarstern, who continued on to Antarctica. 

The operation was part of two special flights Lufthansa carried out for the Alfred Wegener Institute during the pandemic. Led by Lufthansa Captain Rolf Uzat, who has since passed away, the mission became a symbol of solidarity and social responsibility for many of those involved during a time of profound uncertainty. 

Through internal updates and personal stories, the crew gave colleagues around the world insights into the journey. “At a time when so many employees were on furlough, it made people realize that our company is still needed. We’re doing more than transporting passengers and cargo – we’re also serving a broader purpose in society,” Pelger says. “For many, it was a source of hope.” 

In an interview, Lufthansa Captain Felix Döllefeld, who took part in the mission, reacted emotionally: “It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.” He also captured why the moment still moves people today: “Everyone back home was saying, ‘Think of us.’ And we were thinking of them.” 

For Captain Carsten Zillgen, a helicopter pilot and flight operations manager of the Polarstern, the mission also remains unforgettable: “What the guys accomplished there was truly unique. They enabled many colleagues within the Lufthansa family to take part in this special story and, during the difficult COVID-19 period, provided a sense of motivation and unity.” 

There was an extra surprise in the story when Zillgen and Döllefeld were reunited on that special flight after roughly 30 years, having previously served together in the German Armed Forces. As a lasting memento, the crew and scientists eventually signed a Lufthansa flag together, which Zillgen later carried on his helicopter flights into the Antarctic wilderness and photographed in the ice.

“The handover of the flag ultimately marked the conclusion of our mission,” Döllefeld says. “Here – take it, it's over to you now. Take a piece of us with you.” 

When Lufthansa employees were invited to submit ideas for the “Iconic Moments” special livery, Pelger immediately thought of this story. He deliberately edited the original image: “It was less about individual people and more about the idea behind it,” he says. 

For many of those involved, the flag in the ice still stands as a symbol of what has defined Lufthansa for 100 years: a pioneering spirit, a sense of responsibility, and people coming together to make more possible. 

With her design for the special “Iconic Moments” livery, Yonca Rojda Dursun is aiming to shed light on something that often remains unseen: the many people behind Lufthansa – and the community that makes flying possible in the first place

“I see the hands as symbolizing collaboration, trust, responsibility, and mutual support,” Dursun says of her motif featuring multiple hands jointly carrying the aircraft fuselage and windows. What mattered most to her was not highlighting individual professional groups, but rather drawing attention to the community behind Lufthansa. “It is not just one individual; everyone carries responsibility – whether in the cockpit, in the cabin, in maintenance, on the ground, in cargo, or in many other areas.” 

The idea came about as a result of her day-to-day work in Leadership & Talent Development at Lufthansa. In this role, Dursun designs group-wide talent management programs that aim to identify talent and support their development in a targeted way. Together with colleagues from a wide range of departments, she works to help people progress within the organization and to strengthen a diverse and forward-looking talent pool across the Lufthansa Group over the long term. 

It was this day-to-day collaboration across functions, departments, and management levels that also shaped the idea behind her motif: to emphasize that Lufthansa is carried by people, together and across generations. “For me, future readiness always starts with the people in the company,” she says in her open, warm manner. 

The fact that her motif was intentionally kept open and simple was essential: “I wanted something that is emotionally understandable and can be immediately felt by people –without a complex design,” Dursun explains. The hands were intended to remain as neutral as possible: no clearly recognizable symbols, no individual functions, no hierarchies. 

“People like me are always referred to as ‘laptop carriers,’” she says with a laugh in the interview, alluding to her role behind the scenes. “But Lufthansa isn't just made up of those who are operationally visible, but also of employees outside traditional flight operations.” 

For Dursun, the motif therefore represents not only her own story, but “also the people who may no longer work for the company or are no longer alive, yet who still have their own stories.” 

The fact that this idea is now becoming part of the special livery is, for her, a meaningful form of appreciation. She hopes that when people look at the motif, they will see not just an aircraft, but also the community behind it. 

People often get to know each other faster in unfamiliar surroundings than in everyday life. Everything feels a little more intense – new places, new experiences, a small group of people traveling together for a few days. That’s exactly how it was for Annette and Dennis Poyda. The flight attendant and the now-pilot met in 2016 on a flight to Vancouver. Today, ten years later, they’ve been married for five years – and their love story is immortalized on an airplane  

Annette and Dennis Poyda’s love story began in 2016 above the clouds between Munich and Vancouver. Both flight attendants at the time (Dennis is now a pilot for Lufthansa), they were assigned to the same flight but barely knew each other. That changed the very next day after their arrival, when they joined four colleagues on a trip from Vancouver to Whistler to go skiing. Annette spontaneously joined the group along with another colleague.  

Originally, they had planned to fly back to Vancouver afterwards on a seaplane that lands right at the crew hotel. But the weather threw a wrench in the works: the flight was canceled, and the group ended up staying longer in Whistler. They eventually drove back to Vancouver together, stopping at scenic viewpoints and going on short hikes. In the evening, they went out to dinner and later met up at a pool party at the hotel. “That’s where we really got to know each other,” Dennis recalls. “In our line of work, personal bonds form quickly. You’re on the road together for a few days and talk about things that would otherwise take much longer to come up in conversation.”  

Back in Munich, the two continued to see each other. Their friendship slowly turned into something more – and five years later, Annette and Dennis got married. A lot changed professionally in that time, too: Dennis left the cabin crew and began pilot training. After five years with Lufthansa CityLine, he now sits in the cockpit of a Lufthansa aircraft. Annette continues to work as a flight attendant for the airline – and occasionally, the schedule works out so that they’re on board together. So far, that’s happened twice, on flights to Stockholm and Porto. It feels completely normal to Annette now when her husband is in the cockpit. Only sometimes does she joke among friends: “It’s pretty amazing that he’s actually flying a plane up there.”  

A love of nature brought Annette and Dennis together from the very beginning – which is why Vancouver was the perfect place for them to meet: the city right by the ocean, the mountains in the background, and the wilderness just a short drive away. Working above the clouds continues to play a special role in their relationship. “Flying isn’t just a job for us, it’s a shared passion,” says Dennis. “And when friends see the drawing on the plane of us skiing as part of the ‘Iconic Moments’ special livery celebrating Lufthansa’s 100th anniversary, it will be a truly special moment.”  

The design by Andreas Spiewak, Torsten Susemihl, and Panagiotis Hatzizelidis, created to mark Lufthansa’s 100th anniversary, features two interlocking hands and symbolizes the team spirit that is fostered across many departments at Lufthansa

At the Lufthansa Technik paint shop in Hamburg, Andreas Spiewak, Torsten Susemihl, and Panagiotis Hatzizelidis witness every day how many people with different skills work on an aircraft. This inspired their design for the special livery “Iconic Moments”: two interlocking hands featuring people and symbols from the world of Lufthansa, such as a mechanic, a pilot, a flight attendant, landing gear, and an engine.

“We’re thrilled that our design made it onto the plane celebrating Lufthansa’s 100th anniversary,” says Andreas Spiewak. “It’s not something you experience every day.” There’s a good reason why their design features the tagline “100 Years – One Family”: “At Lufthansa, we see ourselves as one big family,” says Spiewak. “Not just because we experience every day in our jobs that we can only achieve our goals by working together, but also because the idea of family has personal significance for us. Torsten has been working at Lufthansa Technik for over 40 years. His daughter is now part of the team as well. Panagiotis has been at the company for 32 years, and his two sons work here too. I’ve been here for four years now.”

What particularly appealed to the three Lufthansa employees about the project was the chance to design their own concept rather than simply implementing someone else’s. To do so, they met several times after work and sketched out initial ideas with pen and paper. “We later finalized the design on the computer and submitted it. Now it’s being transferred to the aircraft with just minimal changes,” says Spiewak. “That fills us with pride and is a great honor. Especially because our design is located on the aircraft right near the entrance area. We can’t wait to board there for the first time.”

Over the coming weeks, more stories will be added – an article that grows piece by piece.