Lufthansa & Flight Attendants Agree On New Contract

Here’s some great news for both Lufthansa flight attendants and passengers…

Lufthansa & UFO union agree on 36-month labor contract

UFO is the trade union representing around 19,000 Lufthansa flight attendants. In recent weeks, we’ve seen Lufthansa flight attendants go on strike. When combined with the strike among ground staff, this industrial action has cost the airline hundreds of millions of dollars.

There’s a positive update, as Lufthansa management and the union have reached an agreement on a new contract, which will be in effect for at least 36 months. This is great news in terms of operational reliability.

So, what are the conditions of the new contract?

• Flight attendants will receive a one-time payment of €3,000 to offset inflation, which will be paid “as soon as possible”
• Flight attendants will receive an average salary increase of 16.5%; this includes an 8% pay increase as of May 2024, a 5% pay increase as of March 2025, and a 3.5% pay increase as of March 2026
• There are other increases in allowances and supplements, including an increase in holiday pay to €1,250, an increase in foreign language allowance to €65, and an increase in purser allowances to €700-800

Here’s how Lufthansa’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Michael Niggemann, describes the new contract:

“I am very pleased about the agreement with our collective bargaining partner UFO – for our colleagues in the cabin, who do an outstanding job every day, and also for our guests, who finally have planning security again in this regard when flying with Lufthansa. Our goal has always been to find a solution at the negotiating table together with the union. We have now succeeded in doing so. At the same time, the agreed salary developments in all professional groups are also an economic challenge that we now have to deal with.”

This seems like a big win for employees & the union

Admittedly I haven’t been privy to the exact details of the negotiations, though my understanding all along has been that the union has been requesting a wage increase of around 15%, plus a one-time payment of €3,000 to offset inflation.

Best I can tell, the union received a wage increase of around 16.5%, plus a one-time payment of €3,000 to offset inflation. Now, I imagine there were some concessions along the way (perhaps the contract period is longer than the union wanted), but on balance I’d say this is a huge win for the union.

Meanwhile this seems like a failure for management. We’ve seen both ground staff and flight attendants go on strike, and both work groups nearly got what they asked for. Not only is the airline incurring hundreds of millions of dollars in losses from the strikes, but it’s also paying significant (and deserved) wage increases.

Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr recently suggested that internally the airline allocates the cost of strikes to labor groups that go on strike. Perhaps in this case, the cost of the strike should be allocated to management, and the cost of it should be subtracted from their future bonuses?

Bottom line

Lufthansa and the union representing flight attendants have come to an agreement on a new contract. Flight attendants at the airline are getting a roughly 16.5% pay increase over three years, plus a one-time payment of €3,000. This comes after flight attendants recently went on strike. It sounds like flight attendants did pretty well in these negotiations, so congrats to them.

What do you make of Lufthansa & UFO agreeing on a new contract?