At the annual general meeting of the MDAX-listed Lufthansa Group in Frankfurt, CEO Carsten Spohr vehemently defended his company's austerity measures against criticism from unions. Spohr described the establishment of new airlines outside the core Lufthansa brand as a "strategic necessity" in order to be able to serve additional destinations with a more favorable cost structure. Spohr explained that companies such as Discover Airlines and Edelweiss made it possible to tap into new markets thanks to their lower cost bases. He also highlighted the role of Eurowings, which, with its fleet of around 100 aircraft, operates as a successful provider of tourist flights outside the Frankfurt and Munich hubs. In the future, the new company City Airlines will also offer feeder flights to the two major hubs. This strategy aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the entire group by creating suitable cost structures for different market segments. The unions Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) for pilots and Ufo for cabin crew have been sharply criticizing this strategy of outsourcing flight operations, some of which are not subject to the core Lufthansa collective bargaining agreement, for years. Shortly before the Annual General Meeting, Ufo chairman Joachim Vázquez Bürger described the resulting competitive situation as "internal corporate annihilation." The Vereinigung Cockpit called on the company to begin collective bargaining negotiations on retirement and transitional benefits for the approximately 4.800 pilots of the core Lufthansa brand in May. If these negotiations fail, there is a risk of renewed strikes at the already loss-making parent brand. VC spokesman Frank Blanken warned: "If the employer side does not enter into negotiations promptly, the question of appropriate responses will inevitably arise." Shareholders demand faster restructuring of the core brand. There were also critical voices from shareholders.