Lufthansa Plans To Cut 22,000 Jobs Due To COVID-19

German airline, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, commonly known as Lufthansa, on Thursday said that it will cut 22,000 full-time jobs as the "recovery in demand in the air transport sector will be slow in the foreseeable future." It makes for 16 percent of the Lufthansa Group's total worldwide workforce of 135,000.

As the carrier struggles with the slump in air travel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic, it has predicted a slow recovery and expects to have about 100 fewer aircraft after the crisis.

"The aim is to pave the way for the preservation of as many jobs as possible in the Lufthansa Group," the company said.

"Without a significant reduction in personnel costs during the crisis, we will miss the opportunity of a better restart from the crisis and risk that the Lufthansa Group will emerge from the crisis significantly weakened," Lufthansa labour director Michael Niggemann said.

However, the airline said that it would look at how it could use schemes for shorter work hours and other crisis arrangements to avoid outright redundancies.

The company closed its budget airline Germanwings in April.

Last month, Lufthansa agreed a rescue deal worth €9bn (£8bn) with the German government to save it from collapse, wherein the German government will take a 20 percent stake in the firm, which it intends to sell by the end of 2023. The deal still has to be approved by the firm's shareholders and the European Commission.