According to a media report, Lufthansa wants to pay bonuses to its board members despite government aid worth billions in the corona pandemic. At a meeting in early December, the supervisory board decided to grant top management bonus payments for the years 2021 and 2022, the “Handelsblatt” reported on Tuesday, citing group circles.
There was a dispute about this in the supervisory board: some representatives of the employee side voted against the remuneration system because they considered the payments to be a violation of the ban on bonuses during the state bailout. According to the report, there was also criticism of the plans, since Lufthansa cut thousands of jobs during the crisis and prescribed short-time work on a large scale.
Red numbers 2020 and 2021
A Lufthansa spokesman explained that internal discussions in the supervisory board are not commented on. “The remuneration for the Management Board, which is currently under public discussion, will be paid out in 2025 at the earliest, depending on various factors.” It’s a long-term bonus. The Supervisory Board observes applicable law in all decisions regarding management remuneration.
The collapse of air traffic in the pandemic had plunged Lufthansa deep into the red in 2020 and 2021. In the summer of 2020, the state saved the airline from economic collapse. The Federal Economic Stabilization Fund supported Lufthansa with six billion euros, and in the course of this he went directly to the group with 20 percent. The state development bank KfW also contributed a loan of over one billion euros. In the meantime, Lufthansa has repaid the aid in full, and the federal government has sold its stake with a profit of more than 700 million euros.
