Eurowings plans first hires for summer 2021

• Current forecasts and developments suggest first recovery and catch-up effects in summer 2021
• Faster recovery expected on tourist routes, Eurowings' core business
• German air traffic characterized by withdrawals and exits of direct competitors

People's desire to travel is growing the longer the Corona crisis lasts. Recent progress in the approval and provision of vaccines, as well as increasingly sophisticated testing procedures, give reason to hope that the aviation industry will see an initial recovery by summer 2021. Accordingly, Eurowings is also preparing for catch-up effects and a return to stronger demand. A dynamic recovery is expected in particular for tourist routes, the core business of Eurowings, and for the home-holiday traffic segment ("Visit Family and Friends") as soon as the first travel restrictions are dropped.

In addition, German air traffic is characterized by market exits and withdrawals following the historic business slumps of the Corona crisis. Competitors such as Ryanair and Easyjet have left strong Eurowings locations such as Düsseldorf or Stuttgart, and airlines such as Sun Express Deutschland or Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter (LGW) have had to leave the market altogether. Based on this reorganization, Eurowings, currently the market leader at the German airports of Düsseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Cologne/Bonn, is preparing for its restart in summer 2021. In order to be able to cover the traditionally busiest travel period of the year in terms of personnel, Eurowings is planning, among other things, to hire up to 130 cabin staff. 

The basis for this recruitment of new staff in line with demand is a crisis package agreed between Eurowings and the ver.di trade union for cabin staff at Eurowings Deutschland. The agreement with social partners and the crisis contribution of the cabin staff of Eurowings Germany is a necessary step to be able to overcome the severe crisis and secure the future of the company in the long term.

Currently, Eurowings is assuming an upturn in tourism demand from summer 2021, which should lead to full employment in the Eurowings Germany cabin again for the first time. Eurowings will therefore shortly launch an application process to fill around 130 cabin jobs. This is an internal Lufthansa Group call for applications, which can be used to offer a new perspective to employees from the Lufthansa Group who are affected by job cuts. The exact details are the subject of current negotiations with ver.di. Employees who already fly for Eurowings Germany will initially be offered increases in working hours and internal transfers in advance of the hirings.

In view of the volatile situation, Eurowings reserves the right to adjust the ramp-up of flight operations up or down over the course of the year. The exceptional situation dictates that flight capacities be planned as closely as possible to demand. With rapid market adjustments last year, Eurowings demonstrated how dynamically the company can adapt to fundamentally new situations.