Lufthansa and cabin crew have agreed to mediation in a dispute over retirement benefits, the airline and trade union UFO said yesterday.
The talks come as the carrier seeks to avoid further costly strike action.
Lufthansa is in dispute with staff on various fronts as it tries to cut costs to compete with low-cost carriers and expanding Gulf airlines.
Pilots at the German carrier staged 10 separate strikes over an early retirement scheme last year, costing the airline close to €200 million in operating profit, and last week threatened to walk out again in the coming weeks if no agreement was reached.
Mediation between the airline and cabin crew could start in the second half of February, after balloting of workers for industrial action ends this month, said Nicoley Baublies, the head of the UFO union, which represents 18,000 workers at Lufthansa.
“We want to ratchet up the pressure in mediation with the outcome of the ballot,” he told Reuters yesterday.
Lufthansa said it was convinced constructive talks could help cut through complex points of its conflict with cabin crew, such as workers’ contributions to their benefits.
Board member Bettina Volkens said: “I am confident that amicable and sustainable solutions can be worked out with the support of a mediator.”
But Baublies said that the union could call on its workers to go on strike if it encountered undue resistance from Lufthansa in talks on separate issues.
For example, it is demanding 8% more pay for its members in negotiations that started in April.