Germany's Lufthansa said Tuesday it is idling 15 planes on intercontinental routes and cutting working hours for ground staff in an effort to cope with the impact of the SARS virus, the war in Iraq and a slow economy
Published:
1 May 2003 y., Thursday
The decision was "the direct consequence of undiminished difficult economic burdens," the airline said in a statement. "Aside from the continuing slow economy and the effect of the Iraq war, the great insecurity among passengers to Asia due to SARS is responsible for the increased fall in passenger demand."
Lufthansa said demand had slumped by up to 85 percent on some Asian routes due to SARS, and said it had cut the number of flights to Hong Kong from 13 per week to three. The airline, which anticipated a 20 percent year-on-year fall in passenger revenue for April, said it was using smaller airplanes on many international flights.
Hours for ground personnel, which already were cut by 1 1/2 hours per week to 36 hours earlier this month, will be cut to 35 hours with a corresponding pay reduction by mid-May.
The forecast revenue drop triggered provisions in Lufthansa's collective bargaining agreement with labor unions that are aimed at cutting costs without laying off workers.
Šaltinis:
news.yahoo.com
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
The European Commission today concluded on the existence of excessive deficits in Cyprus, Denmark and Finland and recommended deadlines for their correction to the Council.
more »
Over 2000 former construction workers in Spain and nearly 600 ex-employees of Irish glass company Waterford Crystal and its suppliers will receive a total of €11 million in aid from the EU Globalisation Adjustment Fund to help with training, business start-ups and job guidance under plans agreed by MEPs and the Council of Ministers.
more »
MEPs on Tuesday decided six top priorities and a number of additional key issues for the upcoming negotiations on the 2011 budget.
more »
The EU-China Science and Technology Week starts today at the heart of World Expo Shanghai.
more »
European Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard and European Investment Bank President Philippe Maystadt agreed on Monday to explore a joint climate finance initiative for developing countries as part of the European Union commitment made at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen last December.
more »
Sustainability, competitiveness and security of energy supply: the three pillars to the foundation of a new EU energy community.
more »
EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and Palestinian Minister of National Economy Hasan Abu-Libdeh today discussed measures to enhance EU-Palestinian bilateral trade relations and to facilitate trade of Palestinian products to EU markets.
more »
Some of the most innovative and exciting transport research projects funded by the EU are being showcased at the Transport Research Arena (TRA) in Brussels this week.
more »
Nowadays we rely heavily on satellite positioning and navigation, but the only available technology is American.
more »
The European Commission will reveal how it aims to revamp its transport networks policy in response to the challenges of the 21st century at a conference dedicated to the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) in Zaragoza on 8 and 9 June.
more »