BERLIN (GERMANY) – Lufthansa on Thursday issued lay-off notices to its German workers, saying cost cuts were inevitable with dwindling number of passengers and slow progress in discussions with unions, adding that it also lost 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion) in a single quarter.
Between April and June, the German airline ferried just 4% of passengers it carried during the same period last year as a result of the pandemic. Lufthansa, which secured a 9 billion euro state bailout in June, expects capacity to go up to 50% by the end of the year and two-thirds of 2019 in 2021.
But its outlook is more pessimistic than its rival Air France-KLM, which expects to fly 80% of its pre-pandemic flights next year. On the other hand, British Airways and Iberia owner IAG has predicted capacity to be 24% lower in 2021.
Signs of a recovery in Europe have been undermined by fresh outbreaks of the virus and flights to the US, which are crucial for Lufthansa, have been grounded.
CEO Carsten Spohr said on Thursday he does not expect demand for air travel to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.
The carrier aims to slash 22,000 full-time jobs and said it had 8,300 fewer employees by the end of June.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field