Deutsche Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA) plans to scrap most of its widebody passenger aircraft, which would contribute to additional redundancies on top of the previously announced 22,000 layoffs.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, Lufthansa is currently looking at withdrawing its entire Airbus A380 fleet comprised of 14 aircraft. In addition to the 14 superjumbos, most of the airline’s A340s would also go, alongside Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA)’s entire Boeing 747-400 fleet and a portion of the carrier’s narrow-body planes that conduct long-haul operations.
On August 6, 2020, Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA) disclosed that it would decommission five Boeing 747-400s and eleven Airbus A320s on top of its A380’s. In total, the carrier planned to shrink its fleet by 100 aircraft by 2023. The additional cuts would push Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA) over that mark, also affecting additional jobs on top of the Group’s announced 22,000.
In Q2 2020, the carrier revealed a €1.7 billion ($2 billion) net financial loss as its revenue dropped by 80% compared to the previous year. The airline also received a €9 billion ($10.7 billion) injection from Germany’s government to boost its liquidity.
At the same time, the company has expected a rapid recovery to 95% of short- and medium-haul and 70% of its long-haul operations by the end of 2020. However, Lufthansa (LHAB) (LHA)’s dreams were shattered by a recent resurgence of new COVID-19 cases in Europe and a slower-than-expected traffic return across the aviation industry.