The Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG has informed the representatives of the trade unions Verdi (Vereinigte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft), VC (Vereinigung Cockpit) and Ufo (Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation) about the current personnel situation in the companies of the Lufthansa Group. This was followed by information provided to the Lufthansa works councils to whom concrete figures of personnel overcapacity were presented and explained in the Group Economic Committee.
According to these figures, the 22,000 full-time positions that will probably be permanently eliminated after the coronavirus crisis are distributed across all business segments and almost all companies in the Group. The Lufthansa airline’s flight operations alone will be affected by the crisis with a calculated loss of 5,000 jobs, 600 of which will be pilots, 2,600 will be flight attendants and 1,500 will be ground staff. A further 1,400 jobs at headquarters and in administration at other Group companies will also be affected. Lufthansa Technik has a worldwide surplus of about 4,500 jobs, 2,500 of them in Germany.
In the LSG Group’s catering business 8,300 jobs are affected worldwide, 1,500 of them in Germany. In view of the serious consequences of the pandemic for the entire airline industry, the need for restructuring applies to almost all companies in the Group. Germanwings, for example, will not resume flight operations, while Eurowings will reduce its administrative staff capacity by 30% and cut 300 jobs. Austrian Airlines has a personnel surplus of 1,100 jobs due to fleet downsizing. Brussels Airlines will reduce its capacity by 1,000 jobs, Lufthansa Cargo by 500.
Staff overcapacity can be partially compensated for by short-time working, collective agreements to reduce weekly working hours or other cost-cutting measures. The necessary crisis agreements are to be concluded by June 22.
