Thursday, 02 April 2020
Lufthansa board of directors appears to be lacking in concept and overburdened
With great incomprehension the Vereinigung Cockpit takes note of the announcement of the Lufthansa Group Executive Board not to accept the result of the short-time work negotiated with the management of Germanwings above ground. In meetings lasting several days, the Vereinigung Cockpit and the management of Germanwings had recently agreed on a collective agreement on short-time work, taking into account the company-specific conditions. The argumentation that the economic situation of Germanwings does not provide the result is implausible, especially since Germanwings is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. Neither the parent company nor the subsidiary currently generates any significant sales.
In view of the fact that there is currently still sufficient liquidity available and, in addition, the state has clearly signalled that it will support companies that are in difficulty as a result of the Corona crisis in order to preserve jobs, it is not understandable why parts of the company are already being questioned.
Markus Wahl, President of the Cockpit Association: "We consider it an irresponsible damage to the company, in the current situation, to deflect a cost reduction of just under 50% of the pilots' wage costs from short-time work payments. It is neither foreseeable how long the crisis will last, nor how it can continue. One gets the impression that the group's board of directors is trying to use the "favour of the moment" to push through structural changes in the group. Even before the crisis, there were already talks about the continued operation of Germanwings, but these were not primarily driven by insufficient profitability, but by the changed positioning of the Group desired by the Executive Board. We are talking about well over a thousand people and their families, who are now deeply unsettled. This is irresponsible, especially since the Group's Board of Management apparently has no plan for the future. Now is the time to secure jobs and not to push ahead with the restructuring of the Group. For the benefit of the Group and its employees, we call on the Group Executive Board to sign the collective agreement on short-time work at Germanwings.
For questions:
Janis Schmitt, Director of Press and Public Relations, 0176 16959001
VC press office, Tel. 069 / 69 59 76 102
The Vereinigung Cockpit is the professional association of cockpit personnel in Germany. It represents the professional and collective bargaining interests of currently around 9,600 members of all German airlines and also sees its task in increasing flight safety in Germany.
V. i. S. d. P.: Vereinigung Cockpit, Unterschweinstiege 10, 60549 Frankfurt, Tel.: 069 / 69 59 76 - 0, Fax: 069 / 69 59 76 - 150; office@vcockpit.de, www.VCockpit.de
Follow us on Twitter
twitter.com/vcockpit
Like us on Facebook
www.facebook.com/vcockpit
If you do not wish to receive this newsletter in the future, please copy the link below into the address line of your browser and follow the instructions on the page:
www.vcockpit.de/presse/presseverteiler/bearbeiten-und-abbestellen.html
