Eurowings and Lufthansa: what pilots earn

The airline that was on strike, Eurowings, belongs to Lufthansa. The employees of the cheap brand are paid according to their own collective agreements. Does the group employ first and second class pilots?

The group recently agreed in principle on an expensive collective agreement with the pilots who wear Lufthansa uniforms. In the short term there will be two wage increases of 490 euros each. Because there is a shift surcharge, that adds up to plus 1140 euros. Veterans get even more. The final details are still being negotiated. This was preceded by a short strike four weeks ago. With this agreement, peace has returned among Lufthansa pilots until the middle of next year. Now the Eurowings uniformed people in the same group are arguing about better working conditions.

Large spread in salaries

What do pilots earn? The Federal Statistical Office last collected detailed data in 2018. At that time, flight captains earned an average of 236,000 euros a year and co-pilots 135,000 euros. Due to the Corona crisis collective agreements, these top earnings have fallen for a short time. Captains and co-pilots together earned an average of just over 100,000 euros last year. These are the officially determined values ​​for the entire German market.

At Lufthansa there are no average wages, only top salaries. If crisis tariffs are not in effect, job starters receive a basic salary of at least 80,000 euros and an obligatory shift bonus, and in the highest salary class there are almost 300,000 euros. There are also other allowances, absence pay and overtime – the so-called “extra flight” brings up to 180 percent of the hourly rate. The pilots’ association Cockpit states that the low-cost subsidiary Eurowings pays between 59,000 euros and a maximum of 171,000 euros annually. There is no shift surcharge.

First too many, then too few pilots

For two years, pilots had their backs to the wall. Corona had largely paralyzed air traffic. The employment agency counted more than 500 unemployed pilots on average in 2021. A top value. The unions exchanged short-time work and salary cuts for protection against dismissal. A year ago, Lufthansa was complaining about too many pilots. Up to 240,000 euros were paid if pilots retired earlier – in addition to the provision up to the regular pension.

Flight operations are ramping up again this year. From the group with its airlines Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines or Eurowings it can now be heard that there are not enough pilots for many widespread aircraft models. The Group operates 17 different aircraft types from four manufacturers. Pilots must have their own approvals for each type. The workload is sometimes very high: a flight captain reports tagesschau.de of four flights in a row between Israel, Germany and within Europe. He sat in the cockpit for fourteen hours.

The recently negotiated Lufthansa tariff for the pilots of the parent company brings 14 percent more basic salary for beginners and 4 percent for pilots in the highest salary class. Due to the agreed lump sums, the salary levels move closer together. The pilots’ association Cockpit has thus put the brakes on Lufthansa’s attempt to establish a second, slightly cheaper class among its expensive pilots.

New tariffs for new pilots were last agreed five years ago – under the threat that 40 new aircraft would otherwise be sold to a cheap brand. The previous rapid increase up to the top salaries was slowed down. For newcomers (“B-Scale”) there is only an additional 120 euros per year of employment, while veterans (“A-Scale”) receive an additional salary of 380 euros per year.

Is there a pilot shortage?

The management consultancy Oliver Wyman predicts a shortage of pilots in a few years. The group’s own consulting firm Lufthansa Consulting and M2P Consulting are more cautious: business trips could be replaced by video switching after the pandemic, and growing climate awareness is leading to fewer flight bookings.

Lufthansa is still a long way from previous flight numbers. Before Corona, 574,000 flights were offered in the first half of 2019, but in the first half of 2022 there were only 370,000. The group thus made a total loss of 325 million euros in the first half of 2022 – which is progress, given that the minus in the same period last year totaled 1800 million euros.

What are the requirements for the job

The Lufthansa business depends directly on the work of the pilots. A brief strike brought operations to a standstill in early September. The requirements for the pilot profession are limited. Applicants must be able to speak good English, be healthy and have no criminal record. Tattoos and piercings are not welcomed, but the Abitur is. The Cockpit Association writes that scientific knowledge at an intermediate level is required.

750 hours of theory and 240 hours of practice are taught in private flight schools. This is exhausting and expensive, but it can also be done part-time. For example, among the approximately 13,000 German holders of commercial pilot licenses there are doctors, tax consultants and other freelancers who indulge in exclusive hobbies.