Lufthansa and independent flight attendant union UFO agree on crisis package

On 24 June, Lufthansa and the independent flight attendants’ union UFO agreed on a package of measures worth more than half a billion euros to deal with the economic effects of the current coronavirus crisis. 

The package of measures includes, among other things, the suspension of compensation increases, a reduction in flight hours with a corresponding reduction in compensation and temporarily reduced contributions to company pensions. 

In addition, both parties have agreed on a package of voluntary measures and severance programs. These include unpaid leave, voluntary measures to further reduce working hours and the subsidized, early change to retirement benefits.

“This conclusion is an important signal to our employees, to our shareholders and to the  extraordinary general meeting (note from editor: held today). In this way, we want to avoid redundancies in the Lufthansa cabin due to operational reasons, ”says Michael Niggemann, Human Resource manager at Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “We also see this degree as a sign of a regained and constructive social partnership with the UFO.”

Nicoley Baublies, UFO negotiator sums up: “The deal that has now been concluded for the cabin employees of Deutsche Lufthansa brings the urgently needed job security. In the current crisis, such contributions, which mean safety but also cuts for every cabin employee, will hopefully lead to a clear approval of the federal government’s rescue package at the Annual General Meeting. The coming months will be very challenging for us as social partners. With this package and the other solutions we have found together, we are finally putting our social partnership on a new footing. ” 

With the crisis package that has now been decided, the company can avoid redundancies for the 22,000 cabin employees of Deutsche Lufthansa AG for the period of the crisis. The agreements reached still require the approval of the members of the UFO.