Lufthansa and Vereinigung Cockpit reach comprehensive agreement to last until 2022

Lufthansa reached (15-Mar-2017) an agreement with the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots union on 14-Mar-2017 regarding all previously unresolved collective bargaining matters. The parties agreed on provisions for transitional payments, pension plans, a framework agreement on employment conditions and a collective wage agreement for pilots at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings. Details will be resolved in the coming months. Lufthansa will not pursue plans to staff 40 new aircraft outside the group-wide collective bargaining agreement. The agreement provides a one-off balance-sheet reduction through the conversion of pension schemes. In return for the cost-reducing elements of the agreement, 325 aircraft will be crewed under the current collective bargaining agreement in stages by 2022, enabling Lufthansa to hire trainee pilots in the coming years and create career prospects for pilots with positions for prospective captains. A reciprocal agreement to refrain from industrial action is set to be formalised in a collective bargaining agreement that will last until 2022. Deutsche Lufthansa AG head of legal affairs and human resources Bettina Volkens said: "With this declaration of intent we have finally reached a breakthrough" and added: "This is not only the end of the longest collective bargaining dispute in our company's history, but it also lays the foundation for a new social partnership with the Vereinigung Cockpit". [more - original PR] [more - original PR - German] [more - original PR - English/German]