Lufthansa is not allowed to pay any bonuses to the management due to state aid of around nine billion euros. In the last few days the board of directors and supervisory board discussed how this clause can be circumvented, reports the Handelsblatt. The argument is that the top jobs would not be attractive without bonuses and that you would be restricted in the search for personnel.

Violent reactions from German politics were not long in coming. According to Handelsblatt, the chairman of the supervisory board, Karl-Ludwig Kley, presented plans on how to make special payments to management despite the ban on bonuses. Probably due to the harsh editorial in German politics, these are said to have been shelved. A Lufthansa spokesman even denied that Kley had ever presented such plans.

In Austria, the management of the subsidiary Austrian Airlines brought itself into the crossfire of political and public criticism at the beginning of August due to the payment of bonuses - immediately before the state aid was paid out. Although these were salary components from the previous year and were very likely legally correct, the moral pressure was so high that the AUA tip buckled and announced the repayment. However, the money has only been deferred and could be paid out at a later point in time, when Austrian Airlines is stable on its own two feet again without outside help.

At Lufthansa, however, the discussion is completely different. It is not about salary components from the previous year, but about how top managers can benefit from special payments despite the contractually agreed ban on bonuses. A very hot topic when a company has been rescued with nine billion euros and wants to cut between 20.000 and 28.000 jobs across the group. In addition, the EU Commission has stipulated that companies that take state aid are not allowed to pay any bonuses to their management.

According to the Reuters It should have been discussed that the special payment claims should be deferred and collected and after Lufthansa has paid off the debt due to the state aid, should be transferred. Lufthansa denies this sharply and describes the media report as "inaccurate". The medium also writes that the plans have been discarded and shelved by the supervisory board.

The concern that the Lufthansa top has allegedly occupied: Executives could leave the group because the pay is lower due to the bonus ban. You may also have disadvantages when looking for new managers. The solution that was decided according to the Handelsblatt: The management should buy Kranich shares and could thus benefit from any price increases.