Lufthansa Faces Arduous Climb Out of Crisis After Bailout Sealed
- Successful vote ends weeks of high-stakes negotiations
- Overcoming debt, restructuring hurdles are next challenges
An employee passes Airbus SE A330-300, left, and A321-100 passenger aircraft, operated by Deutsche Lufthansa AG, in a hangar at Frankfurt Airport.
Photographer: Alex Kraus/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG dodged insolvency. Now Europe’s biggest airline faces the arduous task of transforming itself into a leaner carrier to compete in an air-travel market hamstrung by the coronavirus.
The approval of a 9 billion-euro ($10.1 billion) German bailout concludes weeks of sometimes rancorous negotiations with the government and follows frenzied speculation in recent days over whether billionaire Heinz Hermann Thiele, Lufthansa’s largest shareholder, would scupper the deal. Instead, he backed it.