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Lufthansa to raise salaries for German cabin crew

Lufthansa said Tuesday it had agreed a pay rise for 19,000 cabin crew members in Germany to help compensate for soaring inflation.

Published: 1 November 2022 12:32 CET
Lufthansa
A Lufthansa plane takes off from Frankfurt. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Boris Roessler

Germany’s flagship carrier said it had reached a one-year deal with flight attendants’ union UFO to increase basic monthly salaries by €250 from January 2023, and by an extra 2.5 percent from July.

Starting salaries for in-flight personnel will jump by 17 percent as a result, Lufthansa said, while those in the highest salary bracket will see a nine-percent increase.

“With this, we are paying due and full regard to our social responsibilities, while also ensuring our attractiveness as an employer,” said Lufthansa personnel chief Michael Niggemann.

Cabin staff in the lower and mid-range salary groups “will particularly benefit” from the new agreement, he added.

Lufthansa already agreed to raise the salaries of pilots and ground staff in Germany earlier this year after they staged walkouts to press their demands for better pay.

High inflation, running at a record 10.4 percent in Germany in October, has fuelled calls for pay hikes across a range of sectors in Europe’s biggest economy.

The airline industry is at the same time grappling with a shortage of workers after many jobs were cut during the coronavirus pandemic. Lufthansa, which was saved from bankruptcy by a government bailout during the pandemic, last week reported a robust third-quarter net profit of €809 million.

The group’s CEO, Carsten Spohr, said Lufthansa had “left the pandemic behind” and was expecting strong travel demand in the months ahead.

READ ALSO: Germany’s Lufthansa says ‘left pandemic behind’ as passenger numbers spike

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TRANSPORT

Denmark confirms latest extension of Germany border controls

Denmark’s temporary controls on the border with Germany have again been extended for a new six-month term.

Published: 12 April 2024 14:34 CEST
Denmark confirms latest extension of Germany border controls

The latest extension to the border controls was confirmed by Danish Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard in a ministry press statement on Friday.

The existing borders controls would have expired in May had they not been extended.

“The safety and security of Danes is a core priority for the government. It is the view of the government that the current level of threat makes it necessary to retain the temporary border controls with Germany,” Hummelgaard said in the statement.

Although technically a temporary measure, the Danish border controls have been extended many times and have been in place in some form since 2016.

Although Denmark’s border controls have been continually extended, they were relaxed in May last year.

The relaxed rules mean that fewer motorists are now stopped for checks at the border when entering Denmark from Germany, compared to early 2023 and before. Instead, border controls are made in line with police assessments on where they are most needed.

Denmark’s repeated decisions to extend the controls have however raised concerns in the EU, which has initiated a review of whether the measure is legal.

Under the rules of the Schengen agreement, countries can place temporary border controls under exceptional circumstances. After a six-month period, the temporary checks must be renewed. 

Denmark initially introduced border checks with Germany in early 2016, citing the refugee crisis of late 2015 as justification. It later referred to a more general “security and migration situation” as cause for continually extending the controls, pointing to what it said was a threat of organised crime and terrorism.

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