On Monday Lufthansa Technik presented a record performance. Revenue in 2019 rose by 13 per cent to 6.9 billion euros and pre-tax profit by 9 per cent to 450 million euros. The world's largest maintenance company gained 25 new customers.
However, CEO Johannes Bußmann warned already at that point: «Nothing has been the same since the outbreak of the corona crisis as it was a few weeks ago». The maintenance industry is already suffering from the decline in air traffic, the manager continued. «The full extent will hit us with a delay», said Bußmann, «but the initial effects are massive».
Reduced working hours planned
And Lufthansa Technik is now responding to this slump with job cuts. The company is sending home 900 temporary workers throughout Germany. «We also had to respond to the sharp drop in orders on hand and incoming orders in our business segments by discharging almost all temporary workers and returning them to the temporary employment agencies,» a spokesman confirmed information from aeroTELEGRAPH. All locations are affected, such as Alzey, Frankfurt and Hamburg.
«This decision is a heavy blow for the colleagues affected,» according to the Lufthansa Technik spokesman. However, he said that there was no other choice to secure the economic situation and the future of the company. So they are already planning further steps, such as short-time work. Lufthansa Technik employs about 26,000 people worldwide.
Lufthansa's CEO Carsten Spohr told journalists last Thursday (19 March) that Lufthansa Technik still had enough work at the moment. The question, however, was: «Which airlines in the world will still be able to pay their bills in the coming weeks and months?», said Spohr.
