Austrian Airlines to cut work hours, salaries

VIENNA — The Austrian Airlines Group will reduce the working hours of its flight attendants and decrease the pay of its pilots for a year to cut costs, the company said Friday.

VIENNA — The Austrian Airlines Group will reduce the working hours of its flight attendants and decrease the pay of its pilots for a year to cut costs, the company said Friday.
The measure will take effect June 1 and impact both Austrian Airlines and its regional subsidiary Tyrolean, a statement said.

Working hours for the group’s roughly 2,000 flight attendants will be reduced by 10% and accompanied by a 5% pay cut.

Austrian’s roughly one thousand pilots will see pay cuts of 5 or 8.5%, depending on their contracts, the company said.

In addition, pension fund contributions will retroactively be reduced by 75% for both pilots and flight attendants as of April 1.

Some part-time employees and those with monthly gross salaries of up to 1,140 euros ($1,535) will be exempt.

The package was agreed to late Thursday by Austrian’s executive board, the in-flight works council, trade union representatives and the aviation section of the Austrian chamber of commerce. It still has to be formally agreed to by the work force but is not expected to meet much resistance.

In March, the airline said it would reduce the working hours of 2,600 ground personnel for at least six months starting April 1.

Austrian Airlines is struggling to battle insolvency as it prepares to be taken over by Germany’s Lufthansa.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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