Background information

Airline travel and thus airlines have been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and the encompassing travel restrictions. Austrian Airlines, a subsidiary of the German Lufthansa, is to receive - after lengthy negotiations - €450 million worth in government aid, in order to prevent insolvency. In addition, staff are to remain on short-time work until 2022 and staff reductions (of around 1,100) will also have to be implemented (mostly via natural fluctuations, after the short-time work period, according to the airline). Furthermore, a €300 million savings package in personnel costs was negotiated between management and works council, to be implemented until 2024.

Content of measure

This means that personnel will have to waive up to 15% of their wages, with expected savings of around €80 million per year. After short-time work has run out (expected in 2022), gradual wage decreases will be implemented:

• Ground staff (technicians, commercial staff) will waive between two and 15% of their wages between 20 March 2022 and 31 December 2023, depending on their current wages.
• Flight staff (pilots, flight attendants) will waive between 5.9% and 12.7% of their wages and pension fund contributions between 2022 and 2024.

This will help the airline save personnel costs in the range of 20% , according to Austrian Airlines, and allows the company to refrain from crisis-driven dismissals and retain as many staff members as possible.

Use of measure

All around 7,000 employees are concerned by these wage cuts.

Contents

• Pay freezes or cuts

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment	Does not apply to businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
Social partners jointly Company / Companies	Employees

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Company level

Involvement

This measure was negotiated and agreed upon between management and works council at the company level.

Views and reactions

Both sides are supportive.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 21 May 2020: Austrian agrees with the workforce on years of wage waiver (www.airliners.de)
• 21 May 2020: Savings package: AUA reaches agreement with staff (www.austrianwings.info)
• 21 May 2020: AUA saves 300 million euros in personnel (wien.orf.at)