Ex-employees sharply criticize Laudamotion as an employer

9H-LMG - the Lauda Airbus A320 OE-LMG became a
9H-LMG - the Lauda Airbus A320 OE-LMG became a "Maltese" (Photo: Christian Ambros).

Ex-employees sharply criticize Laudamotion as an employer

9H-LMG - the Lauda Airbus A320 OE-LMG became a "Maltese" (Photo: Christian Ambros).
Advertising

The former airline of the racing driver Niki Lauda, ​​who died last year, has to listen to harsh criticism from former employees. They report on “working conditions like in the 19th century” and thus place an enormous burden on the company.

In the online edition of the news magazine "WELT“It's getting heated. Right in the middle of it all: Ryanair subsidiary Laudamotion. She is confronted with serious allegations, partly evidenced by old employment contracts or excerpts from correspondence with the ex-employer. This makes it clear: The company's employees are far from doing as good as the customers. If some can fly to Palma for less than 20 euros, others also have to work during the legally prescribed rest period. 

Often sick or overtired colleagues were brought on board and urged not to go on sick leave. This approach not only endangers the health of one's own workforce, but also the flight safety on board, as ex-flight attendant Stefan says, who openly describes his experiences with Laudamotion as an employer. It goes without saying that flight attendants appear well rested for the flight. Because mistakes can quickly occur that can cost lives in an emergency. "If passengers have to be evacuated after an emergency landing, I don't know whether it is good if the flight attendants are so tired that they forget which commands to give the passengers," says Stefan.

Another affected person, who worked as a senior flight attendant for the company, was also extremely stressful. Individual flights were not canceled, even though the aircraft was demonstrably defective. There were also cases in which repairs were not carried out directly - the machine simply continued to fly in the condition in need of repair. “I have seldom seen technicians,” said the lady. Your colleague from the cockpit, who does not want to be named, also describes: Laudamotion has recently put pressure on the captains to fly with as little gasoline as possible. He had to justify every tank filling that exceeded the minimum level to his employer. That is also risky. "If an aircraft is not sufficiently fueled, every storm, every evasion to another airport, every waiting time before landing becomes a potentially incalculable risk," says the pilot.

Harry Jaeger of the flight attendants union UFO is not surprised by these terrifying experiences. Because recently it was known: "Only a small minority of the approximately 120 Lauda flight attendants perceive the conditions at Laudamotion as acceptable." He is certain: Since the takeover by the Irish Ryanair, the pace in the company has only gone downhill. This would be testified by employees who were previously employed by the airline. "Even under Niki Lauda there was a lot to complain about, but since Ryanair boss O'Leary has been at the helm, even basic social considerations no longer play a role," said Jaeger. It remains to be seen whether the start-up as Lauda Europe also includes new working conditions.

Leave a Comment

Your e-mail address will not be published. Required fields are marked with * marked

This website uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn more about how your comment data is processed.

Editor of this article:

Granit Pireci is an editor at Aviation.Direct and specializes in aviation in Southeast Europe. Before that he worked for AviationNetOnline (formerly Austrian Aviation Net).
[ssba buttons]

Nobody likes paywalls
- not even Aviation.Direct!

Information should be free for everyone, but good journalism costs a lot of money.

If you enjoyed this article, you can check Aviation.Direct voluntary for a cup of coffee Coffee trail (for them it's free to use).

In doing so, you support the journalistic work of our independent specialist portal for aviation, travel and tourism with a focus on the DA-CH region voluntarily without a paywall requirement.

If you did not like the article, we look forward to your constructive criticism and / or your suggestions for improvement, either directly to the editor or to the team at with this link or alternatively via the comments.

Your
Aviation.Direct team
paywalls
nobody likes!

About the editor

Granit Pireci is an editor at Aviation.Direct and specializes in aviation in Southeast Europe. Before that he worked for AviationNetOnline (formerly Austrian Aviation Net).
[ssba buttons]

Nobody likes paywalls
- not even Aviation.Direct!

Information should be free for everyone, but good journalism costs a lot of money.

If you enjoyed this article, you can check Aviation.Direct voluntary for a cup of coffee Coffee trail (for them it's free to use).

In doing so, you support the journalistic work of our independent specialist portal for aviation, travel and tourism with a focus on the DA-CH region voluntarily without a paywall requirement.

If you did not like the article, we look forward to your constructive criticism and / or your suggestions for improvement, either directly to the editor or to the team at with this link or alternatively via the comments.

Your
Aviation.Direct team
paywalls
nobody likes!

Leave a Comment

Your e-mail address will not be published. Required fields are marked with * marked

This website uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn more about how your comment data is processed.

Advertising