They also thought it was pointless to even try to compete with air travel. Hartmut Mehdorn, the CEO of DB AG (German rail) from 2009-2019 was an airline execut

They also thought it was pointless to even try to compete with air travel. Hartmut Mehdorn, the CEO of DB AG (German rail) from 2009-2019 was an airline executive before and after he wrecked/lead German rail. Rüdiger Grube, who succeeded him, was a former aerospace and car executive. Many (all?) of the chairmen of the board through those years were also aerospace executives, e.g. Christoph Franz was at Lufthansa before his stint at DB AG and the Lufthansa CEO a couple of years after it. Karl-Friedrich Rausch was at Lufthansa for 15 years before becoming a leading executive at DB AG.