The wage dispute between the German airline Lufthansa and its pilots is over. 65.5 percent of the pilots of Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo have agreed to the negotiated collective agreement, according to the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union. Strikes are thus off the table by the end of 2026.
According to Lufthansa, the approximately 5,200 pilots will receive at least 18 percent more money in several stages over the next three years. Together with two flat-rate increases from the previous year, this would result in salary increases of 25 to 50 percent over the total period of four and a half years, depending on the classification. A one-off payment of 3000 euros was also agreed.
Agreements on working and standby times
More significant are the additional agreements on working and on-call times in the general collective agreement and the abolition of a second collective agreement that was introduced years ago for newcomers. A solution is also being accepted for 150 captains of the subsidiary Germanwings, which was set up in 2020, who will switch to the parent Lufthansa in their previous function. Around 550 Lufthansa pilots receive financial compensation because they can later be promoted to captain.
The agreement creates additional stability in operations and thus more reliability, explained Lufthansa HR Director Michael Niggemann. The long term means planning security in the coming years, in which Lufthansa is planning growth on long-haul routes. VC President Stefan Herth also emphasized the reliability that has been created for pilots, companies and guests. Now one must continue to work on improving the social partnership.
Unanswered questions about the new airline
It remains unclear at first how the short feeder flights to the hubs in Frankfurt and Munich will be organized in the future. The Lufthansa Group has founded a new airline, City Airlines, which is to do this at lower costs than the Lufthansa core company has been able to do itself. The company wants to agree the tariffs for city pilots with VC, which has always opposed such a shift in previous negotiations.
The union’s collective bargaining committee left the decision up to the members concerned and declared a good two weeks ago that no better result could be achieved through negotiations. This means that in the now concluded collective bargaining round, there will be a warning strike on September 2, 2022, when all flight operations of the main brand were stopped.