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VNo one in the ruling parties wants to comment on the explosive issue, but criticism is even more pronounced from the opposition. The reason for the enthusiasm: Lufthansa is using the billions in loans that were granted to it by the state and therefore by the taxpayers to save it, also to complete the short-term allocation for the pilots.
“People in retail or food who have lost their jobs because of the Corona measures no longer understand the world. How can the state take the air to breathe the middle class and on the other hand finance generous salaries in the subsidized aviation industry? “Said Alice Weidel, president of the AfD in the Bundestag, WELT. He believes the signal from Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr is devastating.
The vice president of the parliamentary group of the FDP, Michael Theurer, sees lost all measure. “In view of the fact that many autonomous and midsize companies do not receive help, it is difficult to convey how Lufthansa handles taxpayer money,” he said. Apparently there is a very different understanding of what is reasonable and what is not.
Up to 15,000 euros for pilots with reduced working hours
Lufthansa boss Spohr had confirmed to WELT AM SONNTAG for the first time that the monthly reduced time allowance for ex-A380 captains would be increased to 15,000 euros, and demanded understanding. With the pure short-term work allowance, the “monthly basic wage would be cut in half” because a large part of the wage is above the income threshold. “We can’t and we don’t want to expect our drivers to do that,” Spohr said.
Only salary up to the income threshold is included in the calculation of the short-time allowance. The limit this year is 6,900 euros in the west and 6,450 euros in the east. The total will amount to 7,100 euros (west) and 6,700 euros (east) in the next year. Depending on the length of part-time work and whether or not they have children, employees receive between 60 and 87 percent of net lost wages as part-time allowance.
The generous additional payments for the pilots also received criticism in the ranks of the opposition parties because the use of state aid was already much discussed in the spring when the economic stabilization fund was approved. While the SPD called for far-reaching interventions in the company’s commercial policy, it was only possible in the end to agree that the funds should not be used to pay bonuses, stock packages or other perks to the top managers of companies that depend on the companies. state aid.
This does not include large increases in the short-term allowance for pilots. If the financial situation of the drivers, especially those who have won well in recent years, makes that step necessary, at least one can doubt. Especially since, from the point of view of industry observers, the tough job market doesn’t make it absolutely necessary for pilots to be happy with generous bonuses lest they switch to another airline.
Source: WORLD infographic
The leader of the AfD parliamentary group, Alice Weidel, believes that it is imperative that the federal government’s bailout policy return to the principles of the social market economy, “in which citizens in need are supported and competition is not supported. distorted by state intervention in the market process becomes “.
In view of the huge austerity program within the group, the increase of up to 15,000 euros is unlikely to please everyone, not only the opposition politicians, but also the Lufthansa ranks. Like all aviation, Lufthansa is suffering from travel restrictions due to the pandemic. Carsten Spohr does not expect passenger numbers to return to the pre-pandemic level in the coming years. “We are realistically assuming that we will have up to ten percent fewer passengers by the middle of the decade than in the pre-Crown period,” said WELT AM SONNTAG CEO.
The airline saved itself from the collapse with a $ 1 billion federal rescue package. “In December we had less than 10 percent of passengers compared to the previous year, but still 10 billion euros of liquidity available at the end of the year,” Spohr said. “This is primarily due to the fact that we were able to reduce costs significantly faster than planned.”
The manager noted that 29,000 employees will leave the group by the end of the year, about one in five Lufthansa employees. “To keep as few employees as possible leaving the company, we strive for smart role models on a part-time basis.” The goal is to keep 100,000 employees at Lufthansa. But those can’t be full-time jobs in all areas.
Currently, emergency sales are not a problem. “There are no plans to sell Austrian Airlines,” Spohr said. Of the nine billion euros from the four home countries of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium, “we have only requested three billion euros so far and we haven’t spent much,” Spohr said. In November, the airline was able to go public again. Further development in business will show “how much we really need of the nine billion euros.” There are no signs of a new financial crisis in 2021.
An agreement has been reached with the approximately 5,000 pilots that they will be protected from layoffs for operational reasons until the end of March 2022. The airline and the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots union agreed on a collective crisis agreement. In exchange, Lufthansa can extend the reduced hours until the end of next year, cut working hours with corresponding pay cuts and suspend rate increases.
