German airline Lufthansa recently said that it might have to cut 22,000 jobs due to impact on business caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The recovery in demand in the air transport sector will be slow in the foreseeable future,” the airline said.
Speaking after a meeting with trade unions, a Lufthansa spokeswoman said the airline estimates that it has a surplus of 22,000 full-time equivalent positions or 26,000 employees.
The airlines had earlier estimated that it would have to cut about 10,000 jobs. Last week, the company had pledged a wide range of restructuring from job cuts to asset sales. The company is seeking to repay a 9billion euro ($10.26 billion) state bailout and navigate deepening losses in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
The company estimates that about 100 aircraft will remain grounded even after the crisis, leading to “a total of 22,000 fewer full-time positions in the Lufthansa Group.” Half of these job cuts are expected to be Germany. The posts make up 16 percent of the Lufthansa Group’s total workforce of 135,000.
The airline’s Human Resources and Legal Affairs Head Michael Niggemann said, “Without a significant reduction in personnel costs during the crisis, we will miss the opportunity of a better restart from the crisis and risk the Lufthansa group emerging from the crisis significantly weakened.”
However, the company said it is trying to reach an agreement with labour unions to make employees work part-time and other ways to cut personnel costs before it holds an extraordinary general meeting on June 25, when shareholders will vote on the bailout.
Flight attendants union UFO demanded that Lufthansa commits to avoiding forced redundancies, but said it was working hard to reach a deal by the time of the meeting.
Meanwhile, the union representing pilots said its members had offered to take a cut in pay of up to 45%, in total amounting to about 350 million euros, but in return it wants the company to try to secure as many jobs as possible.
HrNxt.com Newsdesk has researchers and writers with an excellent domain knowledge about the talent ecosystem, and the business environment. The team keeps a tab on the latest happenings in the ecosystem to bring most relevant news and insights for our readers. You can connect with our newsdesk at newsdesk@hrnxt.com.