Austrian Airlines dependent on Lufthansa for survival: supervisory chairman

Austrian Airlines (AUA) supervisory chairman and Lufthansa board member Stefan Lauer said Lufthansa will announce plans for the carrier on 15-Mar-2012, adding the carrier needs additional funds from its parent company to survive, as reported by dpa-AFX and APA. "In our role as shareholder, we support the Austrian Airlines management in efforts to ready the airline for tough competition in the future," he said, adding, "AUA no longer has sufficient capital" and that the carrier has no future without funding from Lufthansa. As previously reported, the board is preparing to transfer all of Austrian Airline's operations to the carrier's regional subsidiary, Tyrolean, in a bid to lower the pay of pilots and flight attendants by as much as 25%. The decision has come after talks with employees on pay reductions ended without agreement.