Lufthansa to shed 4,000 jobs with help from AI

Germany's national carrier Lufthansa on Monday confirmed reports that it intends to cut 4,000 administrative positions by 2030.

The company said it would use artificial intelligence (AI), digitalization and efficiency savings among its member airlines.

The announcement comes days after another major German company, the industrial giant Bosch, said it would cut 13,000 jobs partly with the use of AI.

What did Lufthansa say about the cuts?

"The Lufthansa Group is reviewing which activities will no longer be necessary in the future, for example due to duplication of work," the company said in a statement.

"In particular, the profound changes brought about by digitalization and the increased use of artificial intelligence will lead to greater efficiency in many areas and processes," it said

The Lufthansa Group also operates SWISS, Austrian and Brussels Airlines, as well as the low-cost carrier Eurowings. It also holds a minority stake in Italy's ITA, which most recently had around 103,000 employees.

It said the focus would be on cutting administrative rather than operational roles.

Lufthansa said it also plans to put its various airlines under tighter central control in a bid to boost profitability.

Among other things, Lufthansa says it plans to strengthen the Eurowings and the logistics and maintenance units, with the latter expected to expand into the defense sector.

German trade union Verdi, which represents Lufthansa office staff, has pledged to oppose what it called "drastic cuts," blaming rising aviation costs, from airport fees to new environmental rules.

"German and European aviation policy bears a large share of the responsibility for this development," union representative Marvin Reschinsky said, urging the federal government to support the sector.

Lufthansa enjoyed strong profits after the post-Covid travel boom, but 2024 was marked by inflation-driven staff walkouts and much higher operating costs.