Lufthansa Cuts Labor Risk With Ground Staff Deal but Tensions Linger

Lufthansa Group said that it had reached a new labor agreement with Verdi, one of Germany’s largest trade unions, covering more than 20,000 ground employees in Germany.

The deal applies to staff at Lufthansa Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Technik, and other parts of the group. It gives Lufthansa some needed stability after a period of labor tension and reduces the risk of disruption from a large part of its workforce.

The pay increase comes in stages

The agreement includes a total pay increase of 4.6 percent over 26 months. For employees at Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cargo, the first 2.2 percent increase is backdated to January 1, 2026, followed by another 2.4 percent increase from March 1, 2027.

Lufthansa Airlines’ passenger business will follow a different schedule. There, the first increase will not begin until January 1, 2027. Lufthansa said this reflects the difficult economic situation at the main airline.

Lufthansa balances better earnings with cost discipline

Lufthansa has been trying to show that its overall business is improving, and earlier this month, it reported stronger earnings and record revenue for 2025.

Workers get higher pay, while Lufthansa keeps more flexibility where financial conditions are tighter.

Other labor disputes are still unresolved

The agreement does not end Lufthansa’s wider labor problems. Flight attendants at Lufthansa and Lufthansa CityLine have also backed possible strike action in a separate dispute. Pilots have been in conflict with the airline as well, mainly over pensions.

Past disruption shows why Lufthansa still needs wider labor stability

Lufthansa’s one-day strike on February 12 was expected to disrupt the airline’s core network and affect thousands of travelers, showing how quickly labor disputes can move from internal negotiations to visible passenger disruption. Even when one agreement helps reduce immediate pressure, Lufthansa is still trying to prevent wider union tensions from spilling back into flight schedules, airport operations, and customer service across its German network.

Photo by David Syphers on Unsplash