I just can’t get over the situation in Germany right now between Lufthansa, Etihad, and airberlin. On the surface this all seems so backwards — Lufthansa is essentially bailing out their biggest regional competitor, and Lufthansa is also finally partnering with Etihad, a carrier they’ve claimed has threatened their very existence for years. But over a very short period of time, that has all changed.
I feel like it’s easiest to explain this in bullet point format:
- Airberlin has been in a horrible financial situation for a while and has been bleeding money with no end in sight
- Etihad owns a 29% stake in airberlin, and has basically threatened to cut them off, which has meant that radical changes are needed
- As part of this, Lufthansa will be taking over 38 planes from airberlin, and using them primarily for Eurowings, which is their low cost division
- It seems odd for Lufthansa to essentially bail out their biggest competitor (since it’s very possible Lufthansa will also lose money when they operate these planes), but the goal is really to keep Ryanair and EasyJet out of Germany as much as possible, and Lufthansa knows that if airberlin goes out of business, those airlines will flood the market
Okay, so that explains the first phase of the situation, which is strange enough already. But this is where it gets truly weird:
- Starting next month, Etihad and Lufthansa will be codesharing on select routes — Etihad will codeshare on Lufthansa’s flights to Brazil and Colombia, while Lufthansa will codeshare on Etihad’s flights to the UAE
- Airberlin has had three CEOs in the past five years, and the latest one is about to leave
- Rumor has it that Thomas Winkelmann, who was the head of Eurowings for 10 years, and is now head of Munich Airport for Lufthansa, will become airberlin’s new CEO
It’s amazing how interconnected these three airlines have become in such a short period:
- Lufthansa has bailed out their biggest competitor and is partnering with an airline they’ve claimed is threatening the entire airline industry
- Etihad has probably made out best in this situation, as they’ve managed to cut losses with airberlin, while putting Lufthansa in a situation where they’ll have a hard time speaking out against them; they’re now officially partnering with Lufthansa, and airberlin’s rumored new CEO has been a senior executive in the Lufthansa Group for over a decade
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