The Lufthansa crew base in the Indian capital Delhi is to be closed defacto. The carrier will terminate the contracts with most of the flight attendants stationed there. Those who can stay should consent to wage cuts.

The Kranich Group explains to Aviation Direct: “Due to the serious financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Lufthansa has no choice but to restructure the airline. This includes personnel-related measures in Germany and Europe as well as in important international markets such as India. "

103 flight attendants who have fixed-term employment contracts are affected. Those 32 who hold open-ended contracts will continue to be employed. However, Lufthansa wants to turn the wage screw in order to be able to further reduce costs. In a circular available to Aviation Direct, the union is blamed.

It was agreed with the employee representatives that all flight attendants would be sent on unpaid leave for two years, but that Lufthansa would continue to pay the social security contributions. Voluntary resignations would have been “rewarded” with severance payments.

Union insisted on job guarantee

The union is unlikely to have actually agreed with the flight attendants, because the present circular also shows that Lufthansa “regrets” that the “union withdrew the signature on December 31, 2020”. Subsequent negotiations did not achieve a goal, because the employee representatives insisted on an employment guarantee until at least the end of 2024.

Lufthansa is acting like Ryanair in India and has almost all flight attendants stationed in Delhi at the door. Unpaid leave is said to be unacceptable for employees because there is no income during this period. Delhi is not the only crew base outside Germany that has been dissolved or greatly reduced: Bangkok will also be closed at the end of February 2021. That leaves only Tokyo.