At Austrian Airlines, the works meetings and strikes organized by employee representatives appear to be having a financial impact. The company posted a loss before taxes and interest of 122 million euros in the first quarter of the current year.
According to a statement from the Lufthansa subsidiary, this is 70 percent below the previous year's figure. The AUA closed the first quarter of 2023 with a deficit of 73 million euros. According to their own information, they have now achieved the second worst Q1 result in the company's history. In this context, it should be noted that the first quarter is traditionally extremely weak and in the past Austrian Airlines has only rarely managed to fly profitably in the first three months of a year.
The AUA management attributes the sharp increase in losses to recurring company meetings and strikes. The cuts are said to have caused costs of 26 million euros. Furthermore, booking numbers are said to have plummeted. This is estimated to cost around ten million euros. There is little optimism for the second quarter of 2024, because Austrian Airlines has to admit that many potential customers book with other providers. It is believed that the many flight cancellations caused by strikes and company meetings are deterring passengers from booking with AUA. According to the company, the previously targeted profit margin of five percent will no longer be achieved.
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