Eurowings, a low-cost subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group, says it actually plans to hire new flight attendants in 2021 as part of an expansion plan to cater for what it believes will be a busy Summer season driven by vacation-hungry German’s who have been subjected to tough lockdown restrictions since before Christmas.
The hiring blitz was announced as many airlines slash their schedules still further in response to continued travel restrictions and new travel bans that have been prompted by the discovery of new, highly transmissible variants of the COVID-19 virus that some experts fear could be resistent to recently approved vaccines.
Over the last 12-months, airlines across Europe and around the world have been forced to shed tens of thousands of jobs in response to the massive slump in travel demand caused by the pandemic. In Germany, workers have been supported through a government-funded wage support scheme but Lufthansa has still warned of mass layoffs and prolonged hiring freezes.
Eurowings, however, is bucking the trend with plans to hire at least 130 new flight attendants before the summer season. The decision was made shortly after Eurowing’s reached a deal with German trade union Ver.di on pay cuts for the airline’s existing 2,000 strong flight attendant workforce.
Flight attendants at the low-cost unit are paid less than their peers at Lufthansa’s mainline airline and have less competitive work conditions and benefits. Employees across the Lufthansa Group who have already been put at risk of redundancy will be the first to be offered the lower-paid flight attendant roles at Eurowings.
“A dynamic recovery is expected as soon as the first travel restrictions fall, especially for tourist routes,” the airline said in a statement about its plans for the Summer season.
Eurowings said it was set to benefit from decisions by Ryanair and Eurowings to abandon their bases in Düsseldorf and Stuttgart. The collapse of Sun Express would also help Eurowings, the airline explained.
