Lufthansa gives formal reasons
Germanwings pilots “technically terminated”
05/19/2022, 1:30 p.m
The next blow for the pilots of the Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings, whose operations were stopped at the beginning of the corona pandemic: Now they are being dismissed. Lufthansa refers to formal reasons, the union is outraged.
The Lufthansa Group wants to send around 280 pilots from the discontinued subsidiary Germanwings to an intermediate company. A company spokeswoman confirmed that layoffs were made this week for formal reasons. At the same time, the employees received an offer to join the new Cockpitpersonal GmbH on comparable terms. Negotiations on the final use of captains and co-pilots within the Lufthansa Group are to be continued with the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ union, Lufthansa said.
The Cockpit Association described the “technical layoffs” as “unnecessary”. They represent an impertinence for the pilots and their families. However, talks are still being held about a solution, the legal structure of which as well as the operational implementation is complex.
Lufthansa had already stopped operating its subsidiary Germanwings at the beginning of the Corona crisis in April 2020. The company did not provide any money for a social plan. By the end of March, agreements on short-time work and restructuring contributions had been concluded for the approximately 5,000 pilots at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo. The group had previously declared that it would refrain from the initially announced layoffs of up to 1,100 employees, despite a surplus of staff. However, this would require agreements on the pilots of Germanwings and Lufthansa Cargo, which could also be achieved through general cost savings in the cockpits.