Lufthansa and pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) have agreed cost-saving measures to help manage the crisis at the German flag carrier.
The agreement includes the basis for an extension of short-time work for pilots in 2021, a reduction in working hours with a corresponding salary adjustment and the suspension of collective pay increases.
The agreement runs until March 31, 2022 and an airline statement confirmed that current cost-saving measures “will not only be continued in the coming year but also supplemented by additional measures”.
Lufthansa is ruling out layoffs of pilots for operational reasons at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Aviation Training and a subgroup of Germanwings pilots until March 2022.
Michael Niggemann, executive board member for human resources and legal affairs, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said: “I am pleased about the further substantial contribution of the cockpit employees to help manage the crisis.
“We want to use the time covered by this crisis collective agreement to agree on sustainable structural solutions with VC in response to the changed conditions and to be able to avoid layoffs even after the crisis agreement has expired.”
Lufthansa and VC will continue negotiations “under more predictable conditions in 2021” in order to reach an agreement on sustainable solutions for the time after the crisis collective agreement expires.
The crisis agreement is subject to approval by the respective bodies.
