The third strike of the year at Lufthansa, launched despite salaries being among the highest in Europe, illustrates the growing conflict between pilots demanding better pensions and management which refuses to give in in the name of the group’s economic difficulties.
A new strike at Lufthansa led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights last Friday, while the social conflict bogged down and announcements of reductions in the group’s flight capacities provoked the anger of the unions.
The latter considered that the early closure of Lufthansa’s regional subsidiary, CityLine – which the group justified on Thursday by the rise in kerosene prices and the cost of social movements – was a “massive additional provocation” which “did not resolve this pricing conflict”.
The pilots of Lufthansa and the Cargo subsidiary, defended by the Vereinigung Cockpit union, are demanding an increase in employer contributions to company pensions, while at Cityline, discussions were to focus on salary increases.
Furthermore, comments in an open letter from Karl Gernandt, chairman of the board of directors of Kühne Holding, a major shareholder of the Lufthansa group, regarding the right to strike, caused the unions to react strongly on Friday.
“When a shareholder criticizes the right to strike for being ‘misused’ or ‘exercised out of selfishness’, this reveals one thing above all: a lack of seriousness,” said the Vereinigung Cockpit union in response in another open letter.
“Better paid than anywhere else”
However, this is already the third social movement since the start of the year. And across the Rhine, these repeated strikes are frankly annoying when they are not simply incomprehensible.
“The pilots of Lufthansa, the flagship airline, are better paid than anywhere else,” writes the German business daily Handelsblatt. However, they are on strike for the third time this year. »
Management has so far refused to give in. According to her, the economic situation of the group’s premium brand does not allow it to further increase pension contributions so as not to further weaken its financial situation by granting additional benefits.
Same speech from Jens Ritter, boss of Lufthansa Airlines. According to him, the pilots of the main company already benefit from the best working conditions in the group, significantly better than those of the other subsidiaries. He therefore considers it inconsistent for new strikes to be organized while remuneration remains among the highest in the European airline sector.
Are German Lufthansa pilots really the best off in the entire industry? Globally, they are far from their American counterparts according to the training agency Aerocadet. But in Europe, they would be the ones who would have the highest salaries.
As Handelsblatt details, to become a pilot within the Lufthansa group, you must complete training at the European Flight Academy. This costs around 120,000 euros. But candidates no longer need to finance the majority of this sum themselves: they must provide only 10,000 euros of their own funds. The rest is advanced by the company and repaid gradually after entry into professional life.
More than 300,000 euros annually
At Lufthansa, a co-pilot starts with a fixed annual salary of 88,600 euros, specifies the German daily. With experience and seniority, a captain can reach up to 281,300 euros per year, excluding compensation. By adding bonuses, profit sharing and certain compensation, income can even exceed 300,000 euros annually after around thirty years of career.
Pilots of Eurowings, the group’s low-cost airline, however, earn less than those of Lufthansa. A co-pilot starts there with around 70,200 euros per year, or almost 20,000 euros less. As for the maximum salary of a captain, it reaches 202,300 euros fixed, or around 80,000 euros less than at the parent company. Here too, additional compensation may be added, particularly for additional flight hours or training missions.
Several factors influence pilot salaries. The type of aircraft flown, number of years of service and monthly flight hours play an important role. Long-haul pilots, particularly at Lufthansa, generally earn more than those who fly short or medium-haul flights. This partly explains the gap between Lufthansa and Eurowings, which mainly focuses on short- and medium-haul routes.
“Many citizens are outraged and are asking: ‘Why are people who earn more than most managers or doctors going on strike?’” we can read in the Cologne daily Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. On forums, on television shows and on social networks, the strike is criticized as ‘personal enrichment of the elite’. »
Lufthansa is now seeking to reduce costs on certain domestic and European flights. It is with this logic that Lufthansa City Airlines was created, a new subsidiary intended to operate part of the short-haul flights. For passengers, few changes will be visible, but operating costs should be lower thanks to different salary conditions for cabin crew.
