Lufthansa Cargo to cut up to 800 jobs

The logistics unit of German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG plans to eliminate 450 to 500 positions in Germany and another 250 to 300 abroad as part of a greater cost reduction program aimed at making the company more competitive.    Lufthansa Cargo plans to cut up to 800 jobs worldwide as part of a greater cost reduction program aimed at making the company more competitive in today’s market.
   The logistics unit of German airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which employs around 4,600 people in total, will eliminate 450 to 500 positions in Germany and another 250 to 300 abroad. The workforce reduction will allow the company to cut costs by 80 million euros (U.S. $90.03 million) as part of its C40 cost cutting program announced last year.
   The news comes just after the parent company saw the surprise departure of Chief Financial Officer Simone Menne, who warned last month that further structural changes at Lufthansa Cargo may be necessary.
   “These job cuts will be as socially acceptable as possible. Working with our co-determination partners, we will prepare the implementation of these cost measures over the coming months and provide our company with a new, leaner organizational structure which is based on our customers’ needs,” the company said in a statement.
   “C40 will help us to achieve competitive unit costs,” it added. “At the same time, we want to make it significantly easier to deal with Lufthansa Cargo by making processes more efficient at customer touch points. Lufthansa Cargo’s global network reach and capacity offer will not change as a result of C40.”
   Last year, Lufthansa Cargo’s earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) plummeted 97.6 percent to 3 million euros compared with the full year in 2014, despite revenues dropping only 3.3 percent year-over-year to 2.4 billion euros.