Major restructuring and downsizing for the Lufthansa Group an omen of things to come for the European aviation industry

Six A380s are being axed from the Lufthansa fleet.                                                                              Photo Airbus

With the coronavirus COVID-19 crisis, showing no real signs of slowing in Europe, one of the unions biggest airline groups has released details of a drastic initial downsizing.

The Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG does not expect the aviation industry to return to pre-coronavirus (PC) crisis levels very quickly and with that in mind, it has decided to instigate an initial round of downsizing.

This major downsizing will affect almost all flight operations of the Lufthansa Group and is perhaps an omen of what is to come from carriers around the world.

The tragic news for fans of the double-decker A380 is that the airline will withdraw six of them immediately and they will be decommissioned and offered for sale.  They were,  prior to coronavirus (PC) scheduled to be removed from service and up for sale to Airbus in 2022 anyway.

Lufthansa CityLine to fly the Airbus A319

Welcome news from Germany as Lufthansa CityLine and pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit confirm that they have agreed on a new set of employment conditions for their 650 or so pilots. The agreement sets the stage for the introduction of a new, future-proof aircraft type at Lufthansa CityLine. Come 2019, Lufthansa CityLine will start operating A320 family planes taken over from Lufthansa. The first A319-100 aircraft will depart from the Munich hub next spring. Another 5 aircraft will follow by the end of 2020.

Future-proof cockpit collective agreement opens the door for A320 family at 

Lufthansa CityLine for the first time

First Airbus A319 to take off from Munich in spring 2019