Months after Lufthansa City Airlines unveiled its first collective agreement for flying personnel, cabin crew are reportedly still waiting for parts of the package to be implemented.
Cabin crew at Lufthansa City Airlines are reportedly still waiting for elements of an agreed pay and working-conditions package to appear in their salaries and rosters, more than four months after the deal was announced.
The Independent Flight Attendants Organisation (UFO) raised concerns on August 20, claiming that parts of the agreement negotiated between Lufthansa City Airlines and rival union ver.di have yet to be fully implemented.
According to UFO, citing information from ver.di, some pay components have been outstanding since April. A separately negotiated collective agreement covering part-time working has also reportedly not been signed, while questions remain over the introduction of the new company pension arrangements.
Changes to the airline’s crew-rostering process are now expected to be introduced when the October schedules are prepared, UFO said.
Three-Year Agreement
Lufthansa City Airlines and ver.di announced the airline’s first comprehensive collective agreement for cockpit and cabin employees on April 10.
The three-year package was supposed to take effect retrospectively from April 1, 2026. It included both a pay agreement and a framework agreement governing working and rostering conditions.
Ver.di said salaries across the different cockpit and cabin grades would increase by between 20% and 35% over several stages. The amount received by individual employees would depend on their role, salary grade and progression through the new pay structure.
Further improvements included revised allowances, shorter intervals between salary increases, profit-related payments and the introduction of a special payment equivalent to half a month’s salary in 2027.
For cabin crew, the package also promised an additional rostered day off each month, two extra days of annual leave, fewer company-initiated roster changes and improved handling of holiday and free-time requests.
Other provisions included greater access to part-time working, sick-pay supplements and an employer contribution worth 5% of an employee’s individual salary towards a company pension.
At the time, Lufthansa City Airlines described the agreement as an important foundation for the young airline’s expansion and said it would create clearer, more consistent working conditions for both pilots and cabin crew.
“An Agreement on Paper Is Not Enough”
UFO has now argued that an agreement only benefits employees once it has been correctly reflected in their pay, rosters and employment conditions.
The cabin-specific union acknowledged that internal coordination, technical system changes, and developments within the airline’s growing fleet could require additional administrative work. However, it said such issues should not leave employees waiting for agreed benefits for several months.
UFO also referred to the expansion of Lufthansa City Airlines’ existing fleet and preparations for the introduction of the Airbus A220, arguing that these were commercial decisions which should not be used to justify prolonged implementation delays.
The union is demanding a binding timetable for resolving the outstanding issues and the retrospective payment of any money owed to crew members.
However, its criticism was not directed solely at the airline. UFO also called on ver.di to explain which parts of the agreement have been formally signed, which remain outstanding and how it intends to secure payment of any unresolved claims.
UFO said employees should not be left to pursue individual legal claims when the provisions were negotiated as part of a collective package.
The dispute also highlights continuing competition between unions representing flight personnel within the Lufthansa Group. Ver.di secured the City Airlines agreement after winning majority support among the carrier’s flying employees, while UFO has traditionally represented large numbers of cabin crew at Lufthansa and the older Lufthansa CityLine operation.
No industrial action was announced in UFO’s statement. Nevertheless, the disagreement leaves Lufthansa City Airlines under pressure to demonstrate that the improvements unveiled in April are being delivered in practice—and not simply remaining promises on paper.
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