Deutsche Lufthansa AG's shareholders last night voted to accept the conditions of a €9 billion rescue deal arranged by the German government, shoring up the company's liquidity enough to ride out the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Lufthansa, 30,000 shareholders attended yesterday's extraordinary general meeting, representing 39 percent of the share capital. Of those, 98 percent voted in favor of the deal—a good turnout for the company, which warned last week it did not believe it would achieve the two-thirds majority it needed to accept the package.
A decision is due in Lufthansa Group's other home markets “in the near future”.
The cash injection will allow Lufthansa to continue ramping up flight operations. The group plans to restore 90 percent of its originally planned short-haul destinations and 70 percent of long-haul destinations by September.
The stabilization package comes with a set of conditions, including a temporary 20 percent stake in the company and two seats on its supervisory board for the German government, as well as the need for Lufthansa to transfer up to 24 take-off and landing slots at Frankfurt and Munich airports to a new competitor.
CEO Carsten Spohr said: "The decision of our shareholders provides Lufthansa with a perspective for a successful future. On behalf of our 138,000 employees, I would like to thank the German federal government and the governments of our other home countries for their willingness to stabilize us. We at Lufthansa are aware of our responsibility to pay back the up to €9 billion to the taxpayers as quickly as possible."
The group has also reached an agreement with the Independent Flight Attendants' Union on a package of measures that will save the airline more than €500,000 without the need for redundancies. These include the suspension of pay increases, a reduction in flying hours with a corresponding decrease in pay and temporary reductions in contributions to the company pension scheme. It also includes a package of voluntary measures such as unpaid leave, a further reduction in working hours and the subsidized, early transfer to a company pension scenario.
Lufthansa said the union agreement will enable the company to avoid layoffs for its 22,000 cabin staff during the coronavirus crisis.
Originally published by BTN Europe.