Cutting 100 Aircraft, Germanwings Is Kaput

The Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG has 'approved a second set of measures as part of its overall restructuring program' in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. With the first set of measures launched in early April it had been decided, among other things, to reduce the fleet by 100 aircraft and not to resume the flight operations of Germanwings.

Lufthansa will also limit new aircraft deliveries to 80 until 2023 -- reducing it aircraft purchases by about half.  Lufthansa has already sidelined 17 Airbus A320s and 380s, as well as five Boeing 747-400 jets before their scheduled end of service dates.

Other steps are being taken, as well...

Lufthansa's board(s) were reduced by one position each at Lufthansa Cargo AG, LSG Group, and Lufthansa Aviation Training. Government loans and equity participations are to be reduced as quickly as possible to avoid a further increase in interest charges. The number of leadership positions throughout the Group will be reduced by 20 percent. The administration of Deutsche Lufthansa AG will be reduced by 1,000 positions. The process of transforming Lufthansa Airline into a separate corporate entity is being accelerated. The already planned reduction of sub-fleets and the bundling of flight operations will be implemented. This measure includes the long- and short-haul leisure business at the Frankfurt and Munich hubs.

Worst of all, the company notes that due to the long-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic, which are particularly serious for air travel, there is a calculated personnel surplus of at least 22,000 full-time positions in the companies of Lufthansa Group even in the period following the crisis. There will be a lot of pink slips over the next year...

FMI: www.lufthansagroup.com