Having allowed itself to be partially nationalized when it accepted €9 billion in state support, Lufthansa is now warning it may have to carry out major layoffs. With catastrophic earnings figures continuing, the airline now predicts it will take until 2024 for the airline industry to reach its pre-pandemic levels. Lufthansa already let go 8,300 staff in the United States, part of a plan to lay off 22,000 jobs worldwide. Operational cuts are now being planned that will threaten German jobs. Already, the airline was 55,000 people on short-time work, but deeper cuts are planned. The company employs 11,000 pilots and claims that it has around 800 too many. The “overhang” as it’s being called in flight attendants is 2,600 and another 1,500 positions on the ground are now threatened. While the company had hoped to be one of the few airlines that managed to avoid laying off staff, it now admits this is unrealistic.
