Lufthansa & Pilots Reach New Agreement, Sort Of

The strike was called off at the last minute after the pilots threatened to go on strike for two days. An important update has been made on that front.

No more Lufthansa pilot strikes through June 2023

An agreement has been reached with the union that represents pilots at the two airlines. A 980 Euro per month increase in basic pay will be given to pilots. There will be a 490 Euro pay increase retroactive to August 1, 2022.

Entry level officers will see a pay increase of 20%, while senior captains will see a pay increase of 5.5%. It is easy to figure out how much a pilot makes. Entry level officers make about 60,000 Euro per year, while senior captains make over 210,000 Euro per year.

There won't be any strikes for the next 10 or so months because of this agreement.

Michael Niggemann is the Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Vereinigung Cockpit. The increase in basic salary with uniform base amounts leads to the desired higher proportional increase in entry-level salaries. We now want to use the next few months in a trusting dialogue with Vereinigung Cockpit to find and implement sustainable solutions. The common goal is to continue to offer our pilots attractive and secure jobs with prospects for further development going foward.”

In reality, not much progress was made

The new contract isn't what the union wanted, but rather just kicks the can down the road. The union is taking something for members while it negotiates.

This makes it possible to discuss and negotiate open issues without time pressure and within the framework of a peace obligation according to the union.

This agreement is described by the spokesman for Vereinigung Cockpit.

“This is to be seen as a positive signal towards the colleagues in the cockpit, the passengers and Lufthansa’s future viability. The collective agreements are still open, but the points to be negotiated can now discussed in a confidential setting.”

I think management views this as being able to not negotiate for the next 10 months until a strike looms again, since the union views this as being able to negotiate for the next 10 months.

Bottom line

The peace agreement between management and the union means that there will be no strikes until the summer of 2023. A pay raise of 980 Euro per month is being given to pilots by the airline.

What do you think about the agreement between pilots and management?