Lufthansa CEO: Company Still Recovering

While contract negotiations are still ongoing, the head of German airline Lufthansa, Wolfgang Mayrhuber, has warned trade unions not to ask for too much. He made the comment in the internal company publication Lufthanseat, which came out on Thursday. According to Mayrhuber, profits have not recovered sufficiently enough to abandon the savings plan implemented following last year's losses of €392 million ($485 million). In the first quarter of 2004, things turned around with gains of €39 million. But Mayrhuber said employees should not expect too much. "In order to compensate for a single crisis year, he said, "we need several good ones." Over the next two years, Lufthansa management hopes to save €1.2 billion, with more than €300 million of that in personel costs. Among the requests being made by management: Employees should work more hours for the same pay.