Lufthansa seeking to make equivalent of 22,000 jobs redundant
German flag carrier Lufthansa is looking to make the equivalent of 22,000 full-time roles redundant as it seeks to restructure after the coronavirus crisis.
The airline said that it was aiming to have made agreements with workers’ representatives by 22 June.
The job cuts, which will impact 600 pilots, 2,600 cabin crew members and 1,500 ground staff, comes after the German state took a 20 percent stake in the airline.
The deal, which was worth €9bn, came after the airline was forced to ground its planes due to the spread of Covid-19.
Lufthansa had already said that it expected that its fleet size would be cut by 100 planes as a result of the restructuring.
The other job losses will come from other companies in the Lufthansa group, with 4,500 jobs at threat at Lufthansa Technik and 8,300 jobs to be lost from the group’s catering company.
“We want to keep as many colleagues on board as possible throughout the crisis and avoid layoffs,” the airline said.
The carrier is one of many airlines to have been forced into sweeping job cuts after the pandemic sent passenger demand flatlining in April and May.
Rival British Airways is in the midst of a heated spat with the UK government over its plans to make 12,000 roles redundant.
In return for its state bailout, Lufthansa has been forced to give up some of its profitable landing slots to rivals.
The deal is the largest German corporate rescue since the coronavirus crisis began, with authorities aiming to sell their stake in the airline by 2023.
The agreement came after weeks of wrangling between Lufthansa and Berlin over how much control the airline was willing to give up in exchange for vital support to survive a slump in passenger demand during the pandemic.
The deal, which will see the government buy roughly €300m worth of shares, requires Lufthansa to waive future dividends payments and place limits of executive pay.