Based on its long-term view of the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG has opted for strident measures to reduce capacity of flight operations and administration. The Board feels that while it will be many months before the airline industry will see any regrowth from current levels through the lifting of travel restrictions, it could well take many years before full confidence returns to global travel.
As a consequence, at Lufthansa, six Airbus A380s and seven A340-600s, as well as five Boeing 747-400s will be permanently decommissioned. In addition, eleven Airbus A320s will be withdrawn from short-haul operations. This will result in a reduction in capacity at the German carrier’s hubs at Munich and Frankfurt. Lufthansa Cityline will also withdraw three Airbus A340-300 aircraft from service.
Eurowings will greatly reduce its short-haul fleet by phasing out ten Airbus A320s, while long-haul operations will be heavily restricted. Germanwings, the Lufthansa low-cost operator operating under the Eurowings brand, will cease all operations. Subsidiaries Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines are going to further reduce capacity beyond that proposed by current restructuring programs, while SWISS International Airlines will reduce its fleet size by delaying deliveries and implement the early phase-out of older aircraft.
Virtually all wet leases with other carriers have been terminated. The major restructuring package has been implemented in order to protect as many jobs as possible at the Group and talks with unions and workers councils are to be arranged quickly to discuss, among other things, new employment models.
