German airline reaches agreement with pilot union on pay issues

Lufthansa and the pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit have reached an agreement regarding all longstanding labour dispute and pay issues that have led to more than a dozen pilot strikes over nearly three years.

The company, in a press statement, released said, "With this declaration of intent we have finally reached a breakthrough. The path is now clear for a comprehensive settlement with Vereinigung Cockpit on all unresolved collective bargaining issues," said Bettina Volkens, head of legal affairs and human resources at Deutsche Lufthansa AG.

ALSO READ: Female Lufthansa pilots take off

"The path is now clear for a comprehensive settlement with Vereinigung Cockpit on all unresolved collective bargaining issues," Bettina Volkens, Lufthansa's head of legal affairs, said in prepared statement Wednesday. "This is not only the end of the longest collective-bargaining dispute in our company's history -- it also creates a sustainable deal that will last until 2022 and, at the same time, lays the foundation for a new social partnership with Vereinigung Cockpit."

The two parties agreed on provisions for transitional payments, pension plans, the framework agreement on employment conditions and the collective wage agreement for the pilots of Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings.

The details of the various collective bargaining agreements will be worked out over the next few months. The agreement provides a one-off balance-sheet reduction through the conversion of the pension schemes. In return for the cost-reducing elements of the agreement, 325 aircraft will be crewed in the current KTV flight operations in stages by 2022. This will make it possible for Lufthansa to hire trainee pilots again in the coming years and create career prospects for pilots with a large number of positions for prospective captains.

A reciprocal agreement to refrain from industrial action for the duration of the talks has already been reached and is set to be formalised in a collective bargaining agreement that will last until 2022.

The deal applies to the pilots of Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings.