Lufthansa takes compulsory pilot redundancies off the table

BERLIN (Reuters) - Lufthansa will not impose compulsory job cuts, the German airline said on Friday, as it cuts costs nearly two years into the coronavirus pandemic that left the industry reeling.

The company said voluntary redundancy programmes and part-time solutions would reduce numbers in a socially responsible manner.

"We have worked hard in recent weeks and months to avert compulsory redundancies for the cockpit staff of our core brand despite the pandemic's serious impact," Lufthansa executive board member Michael Niggemann said in a statement.

Lufthansa did not say how many of its core brand's 5,000 pilots will be leaving. Earlier company information suggested there was a surplus of about 1,100.

Lufthansa said it was still looking for new jobs for pilots from its low-cost carrier Germanwings, which was grounded in April 2020.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr has brought up layoffs several times during negotiations with the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots union during the pandemic.

(Reporting by Ilona Wissenbach; Writing by Miranda Murray; Editing by David Goodman)

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