On Monday, at the Capital Market Day in Munich, the first in six years, Lufthansa is ready to present investors with a drastic choice: cut of about 3.000 jobs in the administrative area, equal to 20% of the employees. A cut that is part of a larger extensive renovation plan and to relaunch profitability, after two profit warnings in 2024 and margins severely tested by rising costs and productivity still below pre-Covid levels.
The news, anticipated by Reuters e Reuters and confirmed by internal sources, has already found an echo in the words of the CEO Carsten Spohr“We need to reduce our administrative costs, the goal is a 20% cut.”
The reasons for the downsizing
The German group, with a total of 103 thousand employees, of which 15 thousand in administration, is aiming toenter an operating margin 8% by 2025, a target that has been postponed several times. recipe passes for early retirements, unreplaced departures, and, according to reports, internal transfers. The move, the company promises, will be "socially acceptable."
A weigh on the accounts the German company is experiencing delays in aircraft deliveries, more expensive airport taxes and charges, in addition to the arm wrestling with the pilots on the pension fund, which the company deems unsustainable. This situation could lead to further unrest as early as September 30th, when the industry will vote on the strike plan.
Risk for Ita Airways?
The unavoidable topic in Italy concerns Ita Airways, of which Lufthansa has 41% with an agreement to rise to 90% by 2026. For now there would be no repercussions The cuts will focus on Frankfurt and will not affect the Italian subsidiary. Indeed, ITA's industrial plan calls for growth and new hires.
The Italian trade unions also confirmed this: "we were not called to any meeting on redundancies – they said Fabrizio Cuscito (Filt Cgil) – "We expect growth, not downsizing." A sigh of relief, at least for now.
