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Lufthansa has shaken up its management as part of a push to save E500m (US$543m) by consolidating operations under 2 airline divisions. Sadiq Gillani, former head of strategy across the group, will move to the Eurowings discount arm with responsibility for developing its network and fleet. He’ll be succeeded in his old role by William Willms, who previously worked in finance at the company’s maintenance unit. Wolfgang Kohlhagen, who was in charge of Lufthansa’s Frankfurt-based cabin crew during their most disruptive strike ever in November, takes charge of health management, to be replaced by Kai Duve, the former head of internal audit. Raimund Mueller becomes chief pilot after previously running Munich flights, with incumbent Werner Knorr returning to the cockpit. <br/>

United Airlines is trying to bring back a bit of the friendly skies, allowing families with young children to board early. The move, which takes effect Feb 15, lets families with children age 2 and under get settled in their seats before the rush of other passengers clamouring for overhead bin space. United was the last holdout. It has forced families to board with everybody else since it revamped its boarding process in April 2012. Policies vary from airline to airline. Some let families skip in front of everybody while others let the first class and elite passengers onto the plane first, then give families a head start on the rest of the passengers. Sandra Pineau-Boddison, United's senior VP of customers, says the move comes as part of a larger effort by the airline to be more attentive to passengers' needs. <br/>