On Monday evening, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr stood at the annual summer reception for the press at the group’s headquarters and talked about his good intentions. “The conflict situation cannot stay like this. We are working on changing the relationship of trust again.” It is “in everyone’s interest that we finally get together again.” As is well known, the pilots had paralyzed flight operations three days earlier for the first time since 2017.
Spohr and his HR director Michael Niggemann still have a lot of work to do. Because barely two hours after the two had said goodbye in the mild Frankfurt evening – Niggemann environmentally friendly by bicycle – the Cockpit Association (VC) sent the next strike announcement to the union headquarters on the other side of the A3 motorway at 0.20 a.m. – two days from Wednesday for the passenger airline and even three for Lufthansa Cargo. According to the union, Lufthansa is letting time pass uselessly. This is “absolutely incomprehensible and leads to a further unnecessary escalation of the situation.” Another strike could only be averted by a “serious offer from the company” on Tuesday.
The two sides are still miles apart on this question of what is serious and what is not. The Lufthansa board, for example, has calculated that the pilots’ demands over two years would result in 40 percent higher costs for the cockpit, 900 million euros. To put it speculatively, that would be significantly more than the currently expected total operating profit for 2022 and therefore seriously cannot be met as a requirement. VC, on the other hand, does not find the group’s previous offer of increasing salaries by between five percent for the highest income brackets and up to 18 percent for the lower ones over 18 months to be serious enough.
The second round of strikes apparently surprised management
Last Friday, around 800 flights were canceled at the hubs in Munich and Frankfurt, affecting 130,000 passengers. Although Wednesday and Thursday tend to be days with less traffic than Friday, more than 200,000 passengers are likely to have to reschedule this time if the strike is not averted at the last second.
Lufthansa confirmed a new round of negotiations in the morning and also its intention to submit a new offer. Flight cancellations would have to be decided by 12 p.m., so there is “high time pressure.” Niggemann thinks it is “unfortunate that this tariff conflict continues to escalate despite an agreed negotiation date. We have absolutely no understanding of this approach. The path of escalation is also wrong because we know that our pilots would much rather fly than go on strike . Nevertheless, we will do everything we can to be successful with an improved offer, even under time pressure.”
Before the new strike was announced, Spohr had made it clear that he not only wanted to restore trust, but that he fundamentally understood the demands for more money. “Significant pay increases are absolutely appropriate, especially in the lower wage brackets,” said the CEO. Lufthansa “did not leave the employees alone during the pandemic, and we will not leave them alone in the face of inflation either.” During the corona pandemic, the pilots earned significantly less compared to 2019. In 2019, during the high demand, a large number of extra paid flight hours were incurred, which were completely eliminated in 2020. Because Lufthansa massively increased the short-time work allowance, the pilots received almost 90 percent of their normal fixed income in the worst phase of the pandemic.
Nevertheless, the crisis has obviously left its mark emotionally, as have the plans of the board of directors to set up another, cheaper branch that will take over feeder flights in Frankfurt and Munich. The massive second round of strikes that was announced apparently surprised management, especially since the Cockpit Association has meanwhile dropped the demanded automatic adjustment for inflation and now wants to push through 8.2 percent higher salaries for the coming year. Apparently, there hasn’t been any official communication with the company yet. Not to mention confidential, informal talks about new subsidiaries and guarantees of continued existence, in connection with which the pilots are not allowed to go on strike.