Lufthansa wanted to break the tariff stalemate with its pilots with a new edition of the fleet commitment (PPV) canceled by the group in 2021. Aiming a Mid-2023 launch , Lufthansa Group now Rolls out a new carrier in its lineup, City Airlines, which could operate a fleet of around 40 aircraft in the future, after initially being put on hold last year.
Looking back, City Airlines GmbH was founded in Munich during the summer of 2022 under a new project "CityLine 2.0". The new carrier will focus on short and medium-haul routes, which will be an overhaul of the European route network in the Lufthansa Group.
Sources suggested , Lufthansa caused confusion with the move , especially among the employees in the cockpit, when it became known that a new airline had already been founded and entered in the commercial register.
According to the plans of the management, this should carry out feeder flights to the two main hubs in Munich and Frankfurt and would thus compete with the original Cityline operation.
Earlier, the project was particularly harshly criticized by the trade unions, as they accused the company of wanting to set up another flight operation without collective agreements after Eurowings Discover.
The Upcoming German regional carrier will operate with an Airbus narrow body fleet , mostly A319s. However, ongoing intense negotiations with the cockpit crew in the Group could complicate matters.
However, Lufthansa is willing to compromise since the agreement with the Swiss pilots. The Eurowings Discover pilots are offered a collective agreement on payment. Interesting to see the feared wage dumping caused by the transfer of Cityline's business to the successor being formed.
