Lufthansa has agreed a new collective pay deal to increase salaries for around 19,000 of its cabin crew.
The German airline said that the agreement with cabin crew union UFO would mean a 17 per cent increase in starting salaries for new recruits and a 9 per cent rise for those on the highest wage grade.
The deal follows recent separate pay agreements between Lufthansa and pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), as well as with ver.di, which represents 20,000 of the airline’s ground staff. Lufthansa had been hit by a series of strikes by workers earlier this year causing major disruption to flights.
The latest agreement will see Lufthansa’s cabin crew receive €250 more in monthly basic pay from 1 January 2023 and then a 2.5 per cent increase in basic pay from 1 July 2023. Workers will also be offered more flexible working hours by the airline.
The collective pay and terms-of-employment deal also formally ends the “crisis agreement” made between the airline and the union in June 2020 during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. The fresh agreement is still subject to the approval of UFO members.
Michael Niggemann, chief officer human resources and labour director of Lufthansa, said: “Our cabin personnel in the lower and mid-range salary groups will particularly benefit from the agreement we have reached. With this, we are paying due and full regard to our social responsibilities, while also ensuring our attractiveness as an employer.
“The flexible new work hours models offer appealing working terms and conditions that are closely aligned to the needs of our cabin personnel.”