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LSG Group
View on WikipediaLSG Group is an aviation services company that manages multiple brands, including LSG Sky Chefs and Retail inMotion. The company's world headquarters is located in Neu-Isenburg, near Frankfurt, Germany. Its North American headquarters is located in Irving, Texas, United States. It is a subsidiary of the Aurelius Group after being sold by former owner Lufthansa in 2023.[1]
Key Information
History
[edit]- 1942 — American Airlines creates Sky Chefs, Inc. as a wholly owned subsidiary.[2]
- 1966 — Deutsche Lufthansa creates LSG Lufthansa Service GmbH as a wholly owned subsidiary.[3][4][5]
- 1979 — Sky Chefs moves its headquarters from New York to Irving, Texas in conjunction with American Airlines’ move to Fort Worth.[6]
- 1982 — Sky Chefs becomes a subsidiary of American Airlines' newly formed holding company AMR Corporation.
- 1986 — Toronto-based Onex Capital Corporation acquires Sky Chefs from AMR for $170 million (C$99 million).[2][7] Sky Chefs becomes a subsidiary of Onex Food Services Inc.[5]
- 1993 — LSG acquires 25 percent of Sky Chefs from Onex for $75 million.[8] LSG and Onex Food enter a joint marketing agreement to operate under the common brand "LSG Lufthansa Service/Sky Chefs."[9]
- 1995
- Onex acquires Caterair International Corp. for $516 million.[10][9]
- Lufthansa creates LSG Lufthansa Service Holding AG, a wholly owned subsidiary and holding company for all catering activities.[5]
- 1998 — Onex acquires the airline catering operations of New York-based Ogden Corporation for $84.8 million.[11]
- 1999 — LSG acquires an additional 23 percent of Sky Chefs.
- 2001 — LSG acquires Onex Corporation's remaining 47 percent stake in Sky Chefs for $827 million (C$1.3 billion).[12][13]
- 2016 — LSG acquires Retail inMotion.[14]
- 2018 — LSG launches Evertaste brand for packaged products.[15]
- 2018 - LSG Sky Chefs co-founded the Airline Catering Association, which is based in Brussels, Belgium.[16]
- 2020 - Gategroup Holding AG acquired the European business of LSG Group.[17]
- 2023 - The remaining international business of the LSG Group has been sold by Lufthansa to Aurelius Group.[1]
Corporate affairs
[edit]Under the LSG Sky Chefs brand, the company is a provider of in-flight catering services for the airline industry. In addition the company also provides extended services on other aspects of in-flight service including in-flight logistics, in-flight management, onboard retail management, and the management of airport lounges. In addition to catering to airplanes, LSG has expanded operations to include commercial trains. LSG Sky Chefs partners with more than 300 airlines worldwide across 214 airports and operates almost 210 customer service centers in 51 countries, producing around 591 million meals a year.[18]
The airline carriers served by LSG Sky Chefs can vary from airport to airport, but some major customers are Lufthansa, Air New Zealand, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Asiana Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, United Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Korean Air, Finnair, airBaltic and Emirates.[citation needed] LSG Group also caters the ESA missions to the International Space Station with bonus food for the German astronauts.[19]
Criticism
[edit]In 2019, the AFL-CIO study found evidence of applying anti-union strategies and tactics despite LSG having publicly committed themselves to international human rights and labour standards, including organizing and collective bargaining rights. [20] The 11,000 union members working for LSG (UNITE HERE (“UH”) is the labour union which represents LSG Sky Chefs) voted in June 2019 to authorize a strike in Aug. 13 as the union stated that wages at Sky Chefs were as low as $9.85 an hour and that more than half the workers make less than $11.35 an hour and couldn't afford health benefits. [21] LSG Sky Chefs, however, strongly disagrees with the study’s argument that European companies seek to locate in the South to avoid unions. According to LSG's response to the study, the Company has, and continues to fully support workers’ rights and freedom of association.[22]
References
[edit]- ^ a b aurelius-group.com - AURELIUS acquires global market leader LSG Group from Lufthansa 5 April 2023
- ^ a b "Chef Solutions, Inc.". International Directory of Company Histories – via Encyclopedia.com.
- ^ Dienel, Hans-Liudger; Lyth, Peter, eds. (1999). Flying the Flag: European Commercial Air Transport since 1945. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 111. ISBN 9781349269518.
- ^ Klußmann, Niels; Malik, Arnim (2004). Lexikon der Luftfahrt (in German). Springer. p. 330. ISBN 9783662083697.
- ^ a b c Jones, Peter, ed. (2004). Flight Catering. Oxford: Elsevier. pp. 30–31. ISBN 9781136402906.
- ^ "Sky Chefs". Airline, Ship & Catering Onboard Services Magazine. Vol. 24. 1992. p. 31.
- ^ "Sky Chefs' Sale". The New York Times. Reuters. January 15, 1986.
- ^ "COMPANY NEWS; LUFTHANSA UNIT GETS STAKE IN SKY CHEFS". The New York Times. Reuters. September 25, 1993.
- ^ a b Faiola, Anthony (May 11, 1995). "Onex to take over Caterair operations". The Washington Post.
- ^ "COMPANY NEWS; A $516 MILLION DEAL IN AIRLINE CATERING". The New York Times. Reuters. May 11, 1995.
- ^ "COMPANY NEWS; OGDEN TO SELL AIRLINE-CATERING OPERATIONS TO ONEX". The New York Times. Bloomberg News. May 5, 1998.
- ^ "COMPANY NEWS; LUFTHANSA TO ACQUIRE A STAKE IN SKY CHEFS CATERING". The New York Times. Bloomberg News. March 30, 2001.
- ^ "Lufthansa takes over Sky Chefs". The Caterer. June 14, 2001.
- ^ Lundstrom, Rick (March 23, 2017). "LSG Group closes out 2016 with revenue and EBIT increase". PAX International.
- ^ Velan, Kristina (April 10, 2018). "LSG Group Invests in Packaged-Products Market With New Brand Evertaste". APEX.
- ^ Bloomberg. "Airline-Caterer gründen Interessensvertretung". Archived from the original on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
- ^ "Lufthansa selling European catering business to gategroup". AP News. December 9, 2019.
- ^ "LSG Group by the numbers - Facts and Figures". Lsgskychefs.com. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
- ^ "Space Food: LSG Group sends autoclaved venison ragout to the ISS". 28 May 2024.
- ^ "European companies respond to AFL-CIO report alleging use of anti-union tactics in American South". Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. October 2019.
- ^ Arnold, Kyle (2 August 2019). "100 union catering workers are planning to get arrested while protesting American Airlines". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
- ^ "Response by LSG Sky Chefs". Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. 29 October 2019.
External links
[edit]
Media related to LSG Sky Chefs at Wikimedia Commons
LSG Group
View on GrokipediaHistory
Origins and Lufthansa Era (1940s–2023)
LSG Group's origins trace to the establishment of Sky Chefs in 1942 by American Airlines as an in-flight catering service based in Texas, initially focused on providing meals for airline passengers.[7][8] This entity laid the groundwork for large-scale airline catering in North America, expanding through partnerships and operations serving multiple carriers.[9] Deutsche Lufthansa AG founded LSG Lufthansa Service GmbH (LSG) in 1966 as a wholly owned subsidiary dedicated to airline catering and related services, initially operating from Germany to support Lufthansa's growing international flights.[7][10] LSG quickly expanded within Europe, entering the Italian market in 1978 through new facilities and contracts, marking its first major international push beyond Germany.[2] Under Lufthansa ownership, LSG pursued strategic acquisitions to bolster its global footprint, acquiring a 23.5% stake in Sky Chefs in 1993, which facilitated entry into the Americas market.[11] This stake increased to 47% in 1999 for $405 million, enhancing operational synergies in North and Latin America.[11] In March 2001, Lufthansa completed full acquisition of Sky Chefs by purchasing the remaining shares from Onex Corporation for approximately $827 million (1.3 billion Canadian dollars), integrating the brands under LSG Sky Chefs and solidifying its position as a leading provider with operations spanning Europe, North America, and beyond.[12][7] Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, LSG Sky Chefs grew through joint ventures, facility expansions, and innovations in meal preparation and logistics, serving over 300 airlines and operating more than 200 catering centers worldwide by the mid-2010s.[7] The unit faced challenges from industry consolidation and the COVID-19 pandemic, which reduced air travel demand, prompting Lufthansa to divest its European catering operations to gategroup in 2018 for strategic refocus.[10] Despite these pressures, LSG maintained profitability in key markets like the UK from 2008 to 2011, adapting through cost efficiencies and diversified services.[13] The Lufthansa era concluded in April 2023 when Deutsche Lufthansa AG agreed to sell the remaining LSG Group businesses—primarily in the Americas and Asia-Pacific—to private equity firm AURELIUS Group, reflecting a shift toward core airline operations amid post-pandemic recovery.[14] The transaction, completed later that year, transferred ownership of LSG Sky Chefs and related entities, ending over five decades of direct Lufthansa control.[15]Acquisition by Aurelius and Post-Independence Developments (2023–Present)
In April 2023, private equity firm AURELIUS Group agreed to acquire LSG Group International Holding S.à r.l., the remaining global operations of the airline catering and onboard retail provider, from Deutsche Lufthansa AG, following Lufthansa's prior divestment of its European catering unit to Gategroup in 2019.[16] [17] The transaction, valued as a carve-out of a business spanning 160 legal entities across 49 countries, addressed Lufthansa's strategic shift away from non-core aviation services amid post-pandemic recovery pressures.[18] The sale closed on October 31, 2023, transferring full ownership to AURELIUS and enabling LSG Group to operate as a standalone entity effective November 1, 2023, independent of Lufthansa's IT, procurement, and administrative systems.[3] [15] The carve-out involved transferring the global IT infrastructure to an independent platform and restructuring operations to reduce complexity, including empowering regional leadership teams in the Americas and Retail inMotion division in Dublin for faster decision-making.[18] In its first full year under AURELIUS, LSG Group reported revenue of €2.347 billion for 2023, exceeding pre-pandemic 2019 levels of €2.302 billion, with adjusted EBITDA doubling to €142.3 million from 2022 and full-time employees growing 12% to 20,950.[19] These gains occurred despite the ownership transition, supported by a 97% customer retention rate in the US and initiatives in diversification, digitalization, globalization, effectiveness, and efficiency, such as launching the "next" innovation program and AICA analytics tool.[19] Profitability continued to improve into 2024, with the company on track for a record high in 2025 amid focus on core airline catering via LSG Sky Chefs and onboard retail growth through Retail inMotion.[18] By October 2025, AURELIUS began exploring a potential divestiture of LSG Group's Asia-Pacific airline catering operations, working with advisers to assess buyer interest in a unit potentially valued at several hundred million US dollars, reflecting typical private equity strategies to realize value from regional assets post-stabilization.[20]Business Operations
Core Services: Catering via LSG Sky Chefs
LSG Sky Chefs serves as the primary airline catering division of the LSG Group, specializing in the preparation and delivery of in-flight meals, snacks, and beverages for commercial aviation. Established through the 2001 merger of Lufthansa Service Gesellschaft (founded 1966) and Sky Chefs (originated 1942), it delivers complete catering programs tailored to airline needs, encompassing full-tray menus, premium dining options, and modular food solutions across economy, premium economy, business, and first-class cabins.[7] These services extend to last-mile logistics, ensuring timely loading of provisions onto aircraft, and incorporate passenger insights and culinary trends for customized offerings.[21] The division accommodates diverse dietary requirements, including religious (halal and kosher via certified facilities), cultural, medical (allergen-free), and lifestyle preferences such as vegetarian and vegan meals, supported by specialized production lines and trained personnel at global facilities.[21] Beyond meal assembly, LSG Sky Chefs provides crew training programs in partnership with culinary institutions like Ferrandi Paris and Un Tigre en Ville, emphasizing high-end service techniques such as on-site rehearsals and five-star hotel standards to enhance onboard presentation and passenger satisfaction.[21] Operations also include lounge catering and hospitality services at select airports, alongside consulting for menu development and supply chain optimization.[7] In scale, LSG Sky Chefs operates 120 facilities across 40 countries, producing 233 million meals annually as of 2023, with a workforce of approximately 20,000 full-time employees contributing to a divisional revenue of 2,437 million euros that year.[5] It partners with over 300 airlines worldwide, handling daily catering for thousands of flights, including major contracts such as serving United Airlines on more than 900 flights across 46 locations.[22][23] Recent operational enhancements include a 2025 investment of $60 million in a fleet of 230 modern catering trucks to improve efficiency and service reliability in the Americas.[24] While primarily focused on aviation, services have expanded to select European train operators, reflecting adaptability in mobile hospitality.[23]Onboard Retail and Additional Offerings via Retail inMotion
Retail inMotion, a brand under the LSG Group, specializes in onboard retail solutions for airlines, encompassing product sourcing, supply chain management, and sales technology to facilitate inflight purchases.[25] Acquired by LSG Sky Chefs in December 2015, it provides end-to-end services including the design of retail concepts, packaging, and menus, alongside procurement, packing, and distribution logistics.[26][27] The division's core offerings focus on enhancing passenger shopping experiences through curated products such as boutique items, food, and beverages, often integrated with airline-specific programs like the relaunched inflight shopping for SWISS powered by WorldShop.[28] Retail inMotion manages the full supply chain from product selection to transaction processing and payments, leveraging streamlined logistics and customized IT systems for crew-enabled sales.[9][29] Beyond traditional retail, Retail inMotion extends to product development tailored for the travel sector, including sustainable packaging innovations and menu planning that align with airline branding.[27] It also supports crew management tools and mobile applications to optimize onboard operations and sales efficiency, partnering with LSG Sky Chefs to combine catering logistics with retail technology for seamless integration.[25][29] Additional services include inflight entertainment solutions and back-office support, with recent advancements recognized by the 2024 Onboard Hospitality Awards for Catering Innovation of the Year and Best Meal categories.[30][31] In April 2024, LSG Group appointed John Moriarty as CEO of Retail inMotion to lead its global operations, emphasizing expanded technology-driven retail strategies.[32]Global Network and Supply Chain Logistics
LSG Sky Chefs, the core catering arm of LSG Group, maintains a global network spanning 131 production and service locations across 49 countries, encompassing North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.[7] This extensive footprint enables the delivery of over 308 million meals annually to airline clients, supporting operations at major international hubs and regional airports.[7] The company's supply chain logistics emphasize integrated sourcing, production, and distribution tailored to aviation demands. Global-scale procurement ensures effective acquisition of ingredients and services, optimizing costs while meeting diverse culinary requirements from premium meals to economy snacks.[33] Production occurs at networked facilities, including regional centers, major hubs for high-volume output, and lighter sites for flexibility, with cross-border coordination to adapt to fluctuating passenger volumes and airline specifications.[34] Last-mile logistics form a critical component, handling final delivery to aircraft via specialized units or external partners at airports lacking full facilities.[34] In Europe, strategic realignments have prioritized networked operations for efficiency, as demonstrated by hub-based production and delivery models in locations like Amsterdam.[34] This approach supports complete catering programs, including onboard provisioning, while maintaining compliance with international food safety standards across the Americas and beyond.[35]Corporate Structure and Performance
Ownership, Governance, and Leadership
The LSG Group has been wholly owned by the Aurelius Group, a Munich-based private equity firm focused on buyouts and corporate carve-outs, since the acquisition from Deutsche Lufthansa AG was completed on November 1, 2023.[15] The deal, valued at an undisclosed amount but following Lufthansa's divestiture of its European catering operations to Gategroup in 2019, was announced on April 5, 2023, and positioned LSG as a standalone entity to pursue independent growth strategies.[14] Aurelius maintains strategic oversight, collaborating with LSG's management to optimize operations and expand in airline catering and onboard retail markets.[16] As of October 2025, Aurelius is evaluating a potential resale of LSG amid interest from buyers, though no transaction has been finalized.[20] Governance under Aurelius emphasizes operational independence with private equity-driven accountability, lacking the public disclosure requirements of stock-listed firms; decisions prioritize efficiency and value creation over broader stakeholder mandates typical in legacy airline subsidiaries. The structure features an executive management team handling day-to-day affairs, augmented by Aurelius-appointed advisors for financial and strategic input, without a formally publicized supervisory board.[18] Leadership adopted a decentralized, regional model following the 2023 transition, replacing a centralized group CEO role to enhance local responsiveness in global operations. Key executives include Greg Anderson as Chief Executive Officer for the Americas (appointed 2024, previously President of Securitas AB North America), Alfred Rigler as Chief Executive Officer for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and HK Cheung as Chief Executive Officer for Asia Pacific.[36][37] Retail inMotion operates under a dedicated team led by CEO John Moriarty (appointed April 2024, formerly with Beyond travel tech advisory).[38] Karin Sonnenmoser serves as Chief Financial Officer, appointed in November 2023 to support post-acquisition financial restructuring.[39] This configuration reflects Aurelius's hands-on approach to fostering specialized expertise across LSG's core brands, LSG Sky Chefs and Retail inMotion.[18]Financial Metrics and Market Position
LSG Group, following its acquisition by Aurelius Group in November 2023, reported consolidated revenue of €2.347 billion for fiscal year 2023, representing a 20% increase from €1.960 billion in 2022 and aligning with pre-pandemic levels achieved in 2019.[19][40] Adjusted EBITDA for 2023 reached €142 million (approximately $154 million), reflecting improved operational efficiency amid the ownership transition and recovery in air travel demand.[41] The company employs approximately 20,000 full-time staff across 120 global locations, producing over 233 million meals annually.[5]| Fiscal Year | Revenue (€ million) | Adjusted EBITDA (€ million) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1,960 | Not specified |
| 2023 | 2,347 | 142 |
