Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s flagship airline said it’s making progress toward returning to profitability as it steps up its premium push and cost cuts start taking hold.
“We’re achieving all the ambitions and targets we set for ourselves for 2025,” Jens Ritter, chief executive officer of Lufthansa’s namesake airline, told reporters late on Thursday in Frankfurt. “And that means we’re back on the path toward returning to the black.”
The carrier, long burdened by high labor costs and operational disruptions, initiated a turnaround program last year that runs through 2028. Ritter said there’s been marked improvements in punctuality, reliability and customer satisfaction, while newly negotiated agreements with labor groups will allow the airline to deploy staff “far more productively” so that flying can be scaled up in the busy summer months while costs can be cut in winter.
The Lufthansa Airlines turnaround program targets a contribution of €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) by 2026 in gross earnings before interest and taxes, and €2.5 billion by 2028. It’s part of a wider group effort to boost efficiency, which also includes a plan to reduce 4,000 jobs across the group.
“We are also currently conducting a very thorough review to identify where we have built up more buffers in the system than necessary in order to stabilize jobs,” Ritter said. “The aim is to reduce these costly reserves and buffers.”
The airline’s fleet renewal has been hampered by delivery delays, but Ritter expects momentum to build next year, with a new wide-body jet arriving every two weeks in 2026. Lufthansa will also begin retrofitting older aircraft with the new Allegris cabin, with the goal of having almost its entire intercontinental fleet equipped with the refreshed interiors by 2028.
The carrier is preparing to roll out an upgraded onboard experience that offers passengers more flexibility in meal choices and timing on long-haul routes, alongside new tableware and upgraded fabrics. The cost of the new service concept is about €70 million in 2026.
The company’s profitability ambitions have been clouded by the risk of potential pilot walkouts. Pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit said earlier this month that it will give management “sufficient” time to provide an offer after previous talks in a pensions dispute failed to yield an agreement.
Source: www.bloomberg.com
Aleksei Andrievskii is the founder of the ANDRIEVSKII SEA WEALTH family office in Cyprus, a member of the advisory board at Bendura Bank AG, Liechtenstein