Screens taken at Frankfurt am Main Airport are currently causing a stir on social media, informing Lufthansa passengers whose flights have been canceled that they have to take care of alternative transport or hotels themselves. An airline that considers itself a 5-star premium provider should probably show more customer service.

Lufthansa advertising has been suggesting for decades that flying with this carrier is the measure of all things. In Germany, telling friends and acquaintances that you are going on vacation with Lufthansa has a lot of prestige. But apart from the expensive first class, there is not much left of the former “luxury above the clouds” that existed in the 1950s and 1960s.

When it comes to customer service, Lufthansa has never been particularly strong. Even in the 1990s, when low-cost airlines were still an absolute fringe phenomenon and the crane was gradually privatized until 1997, it could become uncomfortable for passengers when flights were cancelled. At that time, Lufthansa had a monopoly on many routes, especially within Germany, and in the era as a state carrier, passengers felt that too. The crane determined what is on time and what is not.

Lufthansa has been a private company since 1997, but when it comes to customer service, the "stuffiness" of a flying railway company has never been completely eliminated. If something goes wrong and Lufthansa has to pay passengers, they pull out all the stops to delay processing, claims Flightright, among others. At times, special bureaucracy was built up and passengers were asked to send a copy of their ID, otherwise the claim for payment would not be checked at all.

Cold reaction to losing fifth star

Lufthansa itself considers itself to be the measure of all things and never misses an opportunity to emphasize this. For example, there was a sniffly reaction to the fact that Skytrax was given the fifth star, which was only awarded because of an announced improvement that was never implemented. withdrawn again. You would still be a premium airline and it would only be a temporary thing, so the official saying goes.

Do passengers whose flights have been canceled feel they are being treated like 5 stars when they are initially supposed to take care of everything themselves at their own expense, even though Lufthansa is legally obliged to provide support services? Because of "staff shortage" one should have understanding for it. Just like in the summer of chaos in 2018, Eurowings passengers should understand long delays and large-scale cancellations. Improvements were praised, but as soon as the passengers came back, things got even more chaotic than before the pandemic.

Lufthansa has made some major mistakes in the last ten years. For example, with the failed long-haul Eurowings, as much money was sunk every year as the defunct Air Berlin before. Corona came at just the right time, because the effects of the pandemic were far more serious than the burning of money on the screwed up Eurowings long-haul route. As Eurowings Discover, they want to do it better with a modified concept.

Creeping dismantling of social benefits takes revenge

The pandemic was also used to lay off many employees. The procedure differed depending on the country. Sometimes there were golden handshakes, sometimes layoffs and elsewhere jobs were simply not filled by employees who had reoriented themselves due to short-time work. The Management Board presented the Supervisory Board with veritable jubilation about the reduction in the number of employees. In the meantime, however, Carsten Spohr had to admit that too many employees had been let go.

Similar to British Airways, Lufthansa used a speculation: it was thought that working for this company had so much prestige for the employees that they would come back at the next opportunity anyway. Lufthansa is the measure of all things. However, this hoped-for effect did not materialize, because many in the areas of ground staff and flight attendants in particular do not even think about returning to their old employer.

Why? In the past, Lufthansa employees not only had the best wages, but also many social benefits and perks all around. You can really say that the Lufthansa employees were proud of their employer and really identified with the company. They were also real ambassadors of “their” Lufthansa in their private lives. This has changed significantly in recent years, as wages are no longer at the highest level and social benefits have been gradually reduced. Some flight attendants are also almost embarrassed by the on-board product on short-haul flights. Admittedly, even in the 1990s Lufthansa was not exactly a carrier that set standards when it came to in-flight service. At that time, Lauda Air caused a positive stir when it came to eating and drinking above the clouds.

It was not decided rationally, but gambled

In the meantime, chaos reigns in almost all Lufthansa flight operations. There was a strike in Belgium, and there was an agreement in Switzerland make vaccination compulsory and this one became not participated by many employees, so that there is also a lack of staff for this reason, in Austria there is too little of a few Sick leave messed up the flight plan and in Germany there is a shortage everywhere. There is hardly an area where Lufthansa, Air Dolomiti, Lufthansa Cityline, Lufthansa Cargo, Eurowings and Eurowings Discover have enough employees. There are no helping hands everywhere, which is why the 2022 summer flight schedule had to be massively thinned out in several steps. Nevertheless, individual connections still have to be canceled at short notice. Spohr has now admitted that too many employees have been cut.

For management running a carrier that considers itself the pinnacle of five-star premium flying, that's just a disgrace. One should have known beforehand that after every crisis there is a sudden surge in demand. After all, the Lufthansa Group is not a windy start-up, but can claim, taking into account the predecessor companies, that it is one of the pioneers of passenger aviation. So you have a lot of experience and should know your way around. In view of the fatal wrong decisions that have been made, one may doubt whether one has always made rational decisions or whether one has sometimes literally "gambled". Regarding the staff one has "gambled". For the sake of fairness, it must be noted at this point that the chaos at Lufthansa is only given as an example. Other providers, as well as many airports and their service providers, acted in a similar way and therefore the conditions are no better.