A Lufthansa major shareholder could be the government rescue package for the group to fail. A conversation with the government ended without a breakthrough.
Updated 9 hours ago—
For Germany’s largest Airline and its employees in a difficult week has begun.
Photo: Keystone
Lufthansa-Chef Carsten Spohr sass on Monday morning on the plane from Munich to Berlin, hoping for a little more clarity and perhaps even a breakthrough. It is also the largest shareholder of the group, Heinz Hermann Thiele, had made on the way to Berlin.
The two met in the late morning with the Ministers for economic Affairs and for Finance, Peter Altmaier, and Olaf Scholz, to try to bring seemingly irreconcilable positions of the government rescue package for the company in line and to prevent the insolvency of the airline.
But in the end, after almost one and a half hours, had Spohr’s hopes are not fulfilled. In informed circles it is said that it was after the conversation just as smart as before. Thiele did not let on the conditions under which he was, perhaps, willing the package to the extraordinary General meeting on coming Thursday by beckoning. A breakthrough can be no question.
Also in the negotiations with the trade unions was all on Monday still open. In the meantime, it looked as if the talks had failed, then again, representatives of Lufthansa, Vereinigung Cockpit (pilots) and UFO (flight attendants) would come together again. Verdi (ground staff) was hooked at this time, according to reports out of it.
Rescue package with the EU tuned
Billionaire Thiele, of the shares holds, in the meantime, a good 15 per cent of Lufthansa, can prevent on Thursday, the rescue of the company. Only 38 percent of the shareholders to take part, a Two-thirds majority is required. Thiele had criticised both the influence, according to his view of the state in the future, as well as the financial burdens of the rescue operation and left open whether he will agree to the rescue package. He had also criticised the fact that no one has explained the Details of the Nine-billion-Plan is sufficient. To has at least a personal interview with Spohr, Altmaier, and Scholz, it is enough for now.
More, apparently, does not. In negotiating circles, it means that Thiele have repeated the positions he had taken in the past week for the first time in an Interview to the public. The Federal government had explained once that in week-long negotiations package. This was agreed not only with Lufthansa, but also with the EU-Commission has been voted on. Anyone who wants to renegotiate, would have to undo the package. The plan of the Federal government. The Federal Minister of Finance Scholz (SPD) had ruled out renegotiations by the end of last week. The package was negotiated, “point”, had Scholz said in Berlin.
The SPD criticized the billionaire
Carsten Schneider, the Parliamentary Manager of the SPD group in the Bundestag, criticized Thiele, who had Recently announced plans to sell 700 million euros on automotive supplier Knorr-Bremse. “Mr Thiele has demonstrated in his own company that he takes the help of the community of solidarity in to claim his rewards,” said Schneider. “If he wants to now pushing Lufthansa to specifically in the Bust, he plays Monopoly.” Lufthansa is part of the critical infrastructure. The stabilization of this company could not be left to “the free play of forces on the markets,” says Schneider.
Completely defenseless, Lufthansa and the Federal government are not delivered to Thiele, however, would move the state significantly, and the rescue plan, however, still subject to change. The Federal government would limit its stake to Lufthansa on the ten per cent (instead of the currently planned 20 percent), there would be no resolution of the General meeting is necessary. Lufthansa’s Executive Board and the Supervisory Board had originally pushed for this solution in order to prevent exactly the Situation to which it is now. The state decided, despite the risks, the higher the participation.
Lufthansa wants to reduce personnel costs
The Thiele-appointment in Berlin was only one of two for the Lufthansa important events. Originally, it was agreed that by Monday agreements with the three unions Vereinigung Cockpit (pilots), UFO (flight attendants) and Verdi (floor staff) to be taken by the Lufthansa personnel costs can significantly reduce. However, until the afternoon Lufthansa had agreed with none of the three unions.
Spohr hopes that substantially less (and more flexible) personnel costs the investors would vote at the annual General meeting, so especially Thiele, gracious. But no one dares to predict how the negotiations could go out. For Lufthansa, it is important to have reasonably competitive costs, when the air traffic again, if even on a much lower level than in 2019, in response. And it’s about how 22’000 138’000 FTEs can be reduced without large-scale fire people.
Little room for flight attendants
In addition to the usual means, such as a hiring freeze and early retirement, the negotiations that virtually across the Board part-time, and thus lower salaries should be introduced. But according to reports, the two sides also still pretty far apart.
The pilots claim they have offered savings of 45 percent. Your invoice contains, but increases future salary, profit sharing and Overtime. If this is not done, according to information from the group, only a single-digit percentage circles left over from the company’s perspective, far too little.
And while the pilots had in the face of lush salaries, the game room, to renounce temporarily to a two-digit percentage share of their income, have the flight attendants and ground staff with little or at least significantly less room.
–The Lufthansa pilots earn well, flight attendants and ground staff, however, have significantly less room for wage cuts.
REUTERS
Published: 22.06.2020, 18:50-
