Lufthansa Maintenance Unit Outlines 650 Job Cuts by 2015

Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA)’s plane- maintenance division, the world’s largest, plans to eliminate about 650 jobs by 2015 as part of a program to generate 1.5 billion euros ($2.02 billion) in savings.

Employees at the Lufthansa Technik unit will be offered buyout packages and early retirements as part of the workforce cutback, the Hamburg-based division said today in a statement. The unit has 13,070 workers at its Gerrman sites, it said. Positions that are vacated also won’t be filled, Lufthansa said.

Lufthansa, Europe’s second-biggest airline, began the reorganization almost a year ago in an effort to improve margins. The strategy included eliminating 3,500 administrative jobs and another 1,000 positions in the catering unit, as well as bundling European routes that aren’t based at its main Frankfurt and Munich hubs into the Germanwings low-cost brand.

Lufthansa Technik helps the German carrier and competitors maintain their aircraft, from routine checks to the most comprehensive in-depth overhaul known as the D Check.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Lavell in Frankfurt at tlavell@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Risser at drisser@bloomberg.net