The newest airline of the German Lufthansa Group, feeder company City Airlines, will depart on Wednesday for its first flight without collective agreements for airline staff.
The first scheduled departure is at 9:10 am (0710 GMT) from Munich, bound for the central English city of Birmingham.
On Tuesday, the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) and the flight attendants’ union UFO confirmed that no agreement had been reached with the new airline on working conditions.
This means that the transfer of staff from the existing subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline to the new company remains unclear.
The existing Cityline is expected to be phased out and replaced by the new City Airlines. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr had repeatedly pointed to restrictions on Cityline in the existing collective bargaining agreement as a key reason for the move.
The new City Airlines has offered voluntary transferees a bonus equal to one year’s salary to make the jump.
However, cabin crew union UFO has advised its members not to accept the offer, because many of the conditions that the airline has unilaterally imposed on matters such as wages and working hours lag behind those of the collective labor agreement at Cityline.
The Lufthansa Group plans to equip the new company with five aircraft for short and medium-haul flights before the end of this year.
In addition to Munich, the Lufthansa Group says Frankfurt will follow as a second base next year and City Airlines’ fleet is expected to grow by at least eight additional aircraft.
Another 40 aircraft have been ordered for delivery after 2026.
The new City Airlines is fully integrated into Lufthansa systems and, like its predecessor Cityline, can only be booked via Lufthansa.
The pilots’ union VC has described the launch of the new airline as unnecessary and superfluous, but has indicated it is willing to negotiate the Cityline deal.
