The pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit accuses the Lufthansa group management of concealing the closure of the flight school in Bremen in its press release published on February 17, 2021.
“Lufthansa consciously exploits the ignorance of people outside the group who are not informed about the background to the company's internal structures. The Lufthansa AG Commercial Aviation School was founded in 1955. The theoretical part of the training takes place in Bremen, the practical part in Bremen and Goodyear (Arizona). Since 2017, the pilot school has operated under the name Lufthansa Aviation Training Germany at the Bremen location (LAT DE Bremen), at which the collective agreements valid in the Lufthansa Group have so far applied to all employees. In addition to the traditional LAT DE pilot school, the Lufthansa Aviation Training Pilot Academy (LAT PA) has existed since 2001 - another flight school in which the collective agreements otherwise valid in the Lufthansa Group do not apply. The employees there work under significantly worse framework conditions than the employees of LAT DE. This school also teaches the theory in Bremen, the practical part takes place at the airport in Rostock-Laage, ”the Cockpit Association wrote in a broadcast.
Circular says "total closure"
According to the VC, however, the internal communication was completely different. The Bremen employees of Lufthansa Aviation Training are said to have received a letter on February 17, 2021 that the flight school will be "closed entirely" by mid-2022. Works council chairwoman Monika Kremer: "The promise that the Bremen location will be retained as the theoretical competence center for pilot training, while the flying training will be completely relocated to Rostock-Laage, nevertheless means that all LAT DE employees, a total of over 100 people, will be at the location Bremen, lose your job ”. In the public Lufthansa communicated completely differently.
"Lufthansa is not only evading collective bargaining agreements, but is also acting in a highly unethical manner," said Peter-Helmut Hahn, chairman of the flight instructors' staff representatives. "Deutsche Lufthansa AG and its subsidiaries received billions in state aid during the coronavirus pandemic. Nevertheless, not only have probationary period terminations already been announced and fixed-term contracts not renewed, but now terminations are also to be announced for employees who have worked for Lufthansa for decades."
Unions are heavily criticized
Franz Hartmann, Verdi union secretary, adds: "Ultimately, Lufthansa Aviation Training is actively evading collective bargaining agreements and restructuring at the expense of the state. The tax money received is not being used to maintain jobs in a socially acceptable way, but rather for a profitable reorientation of the pilot school."
On behalf of the Cockpit Association, Dr. Marcel Gröls, Chairman of Collective Bargaining Policy, criticizes the refusal of politicians to take a stand: "The Federal Government is withdrawing from the Lufthansa affair with the position that it is not interfering in day-to-day business. But Lufthansa is not doing day-to-day business here, but is making fundamental decisions: against tradition, quality and collective bargaining. If the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs is not interested in this, he can also consistently withdraw the two state representatives from the Supervisory Board."
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