[caption id="attachment_18466" align="alignnone" width="400"]
(Lufthansa struck an agreement with cabin crew union UFO agreeing to 20 percent cost cuts for selected long-haul flights. (File photo: Reuters))[/caption]Lufthansa struck an agreement with cabin crew union UFO agreeing to 20 percent cost cuts for selected long-haul flights, as the airline expands budget services to compete against low-cost rivals and fast-growing Middle East carriers.
Germany’s flagship carrier is in the middle of a restructuring and is negotiating savings and cost cuts with several unions.
The thorniest dispute for Lufthansa is currently about early retirement benefits for its pilots.
In July, the carrier announced a new strategy that includes expanding low-cost services in Europe and on intercontinental flights to attract leisure travellers with cheaper tickets.
Lufthansa and UFO agreed on Tuesday to reconfigure 14 A340-300 planes without an expensive-to-operate first class, and with a smaller business class, enabling the carrier to run flights to popular tourist destinations like the Caribbean with fewer flight staff.
“This agreement makes us capable of competing on particularly price-sensitive routes with a high share of private travel,” Lufthansa’s head of personnel, Bettina Volkens, said in a statement.
Lufthansa said the agreement with cabin crew was struck independently of a decision on whether it would pursue plans to set up a new low-cost, long-haul unit.
“There’s no news on this,” a spokesman said.
(By Peter Maushagen, Reuters | Frankfurt)
(Al Arabiya News, 16 Tuesday September 2014 The Roman)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.