Berlin (AFP)
The first European airline group Lufthansa, in the midst of a crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, intends to cut 22,000 jobs worldwide, or 16% of its workforce, the company told AFP on Wednesday.
"We are going to have 22,000 fewer full-time equivalent jobs within the Lufthansa group, half of which in Germany," said the group.
Lufthansa adds that it wants to avoid, as far as possible, dry layoffs, thanks to "partial unemployment" measures and agreements negotiated with the unions.
The group, which also owns the European companies SWISS, Austrian, Brussel Airlines and Eurowings, has 135,000 employees worldwide.
At the beginning of June, the boss of the group Carsten Spohr, had estimated at only 10,000 the number of employees in excess.
But "demand in air traffic will obviously resume very slowly," said the company, which also plans to part with 100 planes, out of the 763 aircraft in its fleet.
"Without a significant reduction in personnel costs during the crisis, we will spoil the possibility of a better restart, and risk weakening Lufthansa," comments Michael Niggemann, head of human resources on the group's executive board.
As in the aviation industry as a whole, the coronavirus pandemic had a strong impact on the activity of the leading European airline group.
Lufthansa reported in the first quarter of 2020 a net loss of 2.1 billion euros.
In the coming months, the group will certainly increase in power after having relaunched certain routes in June, but its supply of seats will not exceed by September 40% of what was planned before the coronavirus pandemic.
To get through the crisis, Lufthansa received 9 billion euros in public aid and credits guaranteed by the German state, subject to a state entry into the capital.
© 2020 AFP