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‘Harder than ever’: Germany’s Lufthansa says 30,000 jobs at risk over pandemic

German giant Lufthansa has warned that 30,000 jobs are under threat as it scaled down its winter schedule to levels not seen since the 1970s as demand for travel collapses because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Published: 26 October 2020 13:47 CET
'Harder than ever': Germany's Lufthansa says 30,000 jobs at risk over pandemic
An employee walks past Lufthansa planes parked at Munich's airport in June. Photo: DPA

The executive board of Europe's largest airline said in a letter to employees that it was now “harder than ever” to predict how the aviation industry will develop, given there is little clarity over how long travel warnings would be applied or how quickly any recovery could come.

The use of video conferences may have also changed attitudes to travel against the backdrop of environmental prerogatives, while pressures on income could also weigh on tourism, the board wrote in the letter seen by AFP.

“No one can reliably predict these effects. We are determined nevertheless to preserve at least 100,000 of the Lufthansa Group's 130,000 current jobs. Even if we do not currently have nearly enough jobs for a workforce of this size,” it added.

READ ALSO: How Germany's Lufthansa is lifting off again as lockdowns ease

Lufthansa in September said more jobs would go beyond the 22,000 previously
announced but did not give a clear figure then.

The German state in June stepped in to take a 25 percent stake in the airline, pumping nine billion euros of liquidity to prop up one of the nation's most internationally visible companies.

The carrier — including its subsidiaries Swiss, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings — said it would ground 125 more planes than planned in the winter, offering a maximum of a quarter of 2019's capacity as it anticipates “less than a fifth” of the previous year's passengers.

The season would be an “immense challenge”, it said.

“After a summer that gave us all reason for hope, we are now once again in
a situation that is tantamount to a lockdown in effect.”

As the travel industry adapts to a post-pandemic world, the airline's board said “we will be a smaller but also a more efficient Lufthansa. The road there will be long and arduous”.

The German flag carrier has succeeded in cutting its outflow of funds at the start of the pandemic from €1 million per hour to “only” one million euros every two hours, it said.

READ ALSO: EU approves huge bailout of German giant Lufthansa

It will reduce administrative functions to around 30 percent, and shutter most of its main office in Frankfurt. Eurowings will entirely give up its office space in Düsseldorf.

The company will also keep employees on shorter work hours for a longer time — up to the end of February from mid-December previously.

 Lufthansa reported an operating loss of €1.3 billion in preliminary third-quarter figures but the three months to the end of 2020 are looking far gloomier.

 

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HEALTH

Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

It’s back again: amid sinking temperatures, the incidence of Covid-19 has been slowly rising in Germany. But is this enough to merit worrying about the virus?

Published: 20 September 2023 12:05 CEST
Updated: 20 September 2023 22:22 CEST
Could there be a new wave of Covid-19 in Germany this autumn?

More people donning face masks in supermarkets, friends cancelling plans last minute due to getting sick with Covid-19. We might have seen some of those familiar reminders recently that the coronavirus is still around, but could there really be a resurgence of the virus like we experienced during the pandemic years?

According to virologists, the answer seems to be ‘maybe’: since July, the number of people newly infected with Covid-19 has been slowly rising from a very low level.

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), nine people per 100,000 inhabitants became newly infected in Germany last week. A year ago, there were only around 270 reported cases.

Various Corona variants are currently on the loose in the country. According to the RKI,  the EG.5 (also called Eris) and XBB.1.16 lines were each detected in the week ending September 3rd with a share of just under 23 percent. 

The highly mutated variant BA.2.86 (Pirola), which is currently under observation by the World Health Organisation (WHO), also arrived in the country this week, according to RKI. 

High number of unreported case

The RKI epidemiologists also warned about a high number of unreported cases since hardly any testing is done. They pointed out that almost half of all registered sewage treatment plants report an increasing viral load in wastewater tests.

The number of hospital admissions has also increased slightly, but are still a far cry from the occupation rate amid the pandemic. Last week it was two per 100,000 inhabitants. In the intensive care units, only 1.2 percent of all beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients.

Still, a good three-quarters (76.4 percent) of people in Germany have been vaccinated at least twice and thus have basic immunity, reported RKI. 

Since Monday, doctors’ offices have been vaccinating with the adapted vaccine from Biontech/Pfizer, available to anyone over 12 years old, with a vaccine for small children set to be released the following week and one for those between 5 and 11 to come out October 2nd.

But Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has so far only recommended that people over 60 and those with pre-existing conditions get vaccinated.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Who should get a Covid jab this autumn in Germany?

“The pandemic is over, the virus remains,” he said. “We cannot predict the course of coming waves of corona, but it is clear that older people and people with pre-existing conditions remain at higher risk of becoming severely ill from Covid-19”

The RKI also recommended that people with a cold voluntarily wear a mask. Anyone exhibiting cough, cold, sore throat or other symptoms of a respiratory illness should voluntarily stay at home for three to five days and take regular corona self-tests. 

However, further measures such as contact restrictions are not necessary, he said.

One of many diseases

As of this autumn, Covid-19 could be one of many respiratory diseases. As with influenza, there are no longer absolute infection figures for coronavirus.

Saarbrücken pharmacist Thorsten Lehr told German broadcaster ZDF that self-protection through vaccinations, wearing a mask and getting tested when symptoms appear are prerequisites for surviving the Covid autumn well. 

Only a new, more aggressive mutation could completely turn the game around, he added.

On April 7th of this year, Germany removed the last of its over two-year long coronavirus restrictions, including mask-wearing in some public places.

READ ALSO: German doctors recommend Covid-19 self-tests amid new variant

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