Lufthansa’s German core business is harder to reform than any other part of the group, CEO Carsten Spohr has warned, as a renewed dispute with pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit remains unresolved. Decades-old labour and operating structures are driving higher costs per flight hour and limiting growth, prompting Lufthansa to direct more investment towards southern Europe and non-German hubs.
Spohr attributed the rigidity to extensive employee co-determination, complex collective-bargaining rules and arrangements dating back to the 1960s and 1970s. A mediation process between Lufthansa and Vereinigung Cockpit, limited to financial issues, reportedly ended without a breakthrough, leaving broader disagreements over the German operation unsettled.
The cost pressures affect Lufthansa’s principal German hubs, Frankfurt and Munich. During the 2026 summer timetable, the group stationed more aircraft at non-German hubs than at Frankfurt and Munich combined, Spohr indicated.
Lufthansa’s expansion outside Germany includes exercising an option to acquire a majority stake in ITA Airways in Italy and securing approval to enter TAP Air Portugal. The group considers southern European markets more favourable because of lower operating and structural costs. Lufthansa management has also described the scale and legacy of existing agreements as a significant obstacle to restructuring the German business.