Rest easy Lufthansa CityLine ;(
Posted by 777F_lover2008@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 47 comments
Lufthansa CityLine has abruptly ceased operations today. The airline is expected to be integrated into Lufthansa City Airlines as part of Lufthansa’s restructuring.
GeraintLlanfrechfa@reddit
Sorry for all the affected employees who are just doing their jobs.
Adrien0623@reddit
Employees also got hit with a new German tax law which treats free travel tickets provided to employees to cover their journey between home and airport base as a benefit in kind. The equivalent value of the tickets is therefore included on their payslips for calculating their income tax rate. This hits those on lower salaries particularly hard, with several hundred euros in additional tax deducted.
GeraintLlanfrechfa@reddit
This is wild.. commuting on employers cost shouldn’t be taxed on the employee salary
OtherwiseAverage4512@reddit
Well it should be, as it is a benefit in kind. It's not like their employer requires them to commute, they choose to stay in another city instead of their place of employment.
GeraintLlanfrechfa@reddit
Meh, I get your point, but yet I personally think there should be a better solution.
Since as an airline cannot expect to have all my staff move to the city where my base is at, if I can enable them to use the airline network to commute.
Neither should the government be profiting the same amount from those who earn less.
OtherwiseAverage4512@reddit
There is really no difference to any other company. I pay taxes on my car my employer provides.
"Since as an airline cannot expect to have all my staff move to the city where my base is at" but then we cannot expect anyone to move to a city where their employer is based whether it's an airline or any other company.
I simply think it's a fair move, I pay taxes on using my company provided transportation and rightfully so should they.
Majakowski@reddit
Imagine how low your salary must be if hundreds of Euros can even be deducted...
Adrien0623@reddit
Well, when you add up a 10-30 flights at 60-120€ each per months + your actual income that explodes your tax rate
777F_lover2008@reddit (OP)
Exactly, Employees that have worked years in Lufthansa CityLine now have to either quit their job with Lufthansa or be rehired for Lufthansa City Airlines and receive 30% less pay for the same work…
Cautious_Use_7442@reddit
Unions are sort of to blame too though. With that ridiculous scope clause (was it 95 seater airplanes?), they gave the company the death kiss.
777F_lover2008@reddit (OP)
Cautious_Use_7442@reddit
Nothing to do with that. I hate LH with passion.
But what new commercial airplanes are there with fewer than 95 seats? Lufthansa has long stopped flying Fokker 50, never had Dash Q8 or ATRs in their fleet (and, besides where would they fly to if they had)
777F_lover2008@reddit (OP)
Yeah but putting the blame on the Union is a very Ignorant simplification of the problem.
Cautious_Use_7442@reddit
I said some blame (not all of it).
777F_lover2008@reddit (OP)
Well the way you talked about “death kiss” and that stuff kinda hints that you have assigned a significant amount of blame to the Union. Which is still an Ignorant Simplification.
its_aom@reddit
Americans…
Cautious_Use_7442@reddit
Well, one can give something the death kiss and still only carry a small portion of the blame. You were simply reading into my comment much more than there is to it.
And contrary to the US where a airline with a similar scope could scale operations by operating hundreds of small RJ, there’s simply no such equivalent market in Europe. An entire airline for a handful of RJ within the same group simply makes no sense
StartersOrders@reddit
To be fair, LH has been telegraphing this for YEARS at this point.
I've heard several times that CityLine is closing "this year" yet it's soldiered on.
co_ordinator@reddit
They planed to pull the plug at the end of 26, but now, in this economy...
Due-Inspector3084@reddit
This is the reality of working anywhere, minus the option of being rehired for any kind of pay.
Panamera_V8@reddit
Flew from Frankfurt to Munich in one of those CRJs last month. Hated every minute of it. At least they handed out two chocolate bars to make up for how cramped those seats are.
Sorry_Structure_4356@reddit
im actually sad about the retirement of the crj
Signal-Session-6637@reddit
I’d say the passengers are not.
Sorry_Structure_4356@reddit
as a passenger i do, but luckily im not really tall
Excellent-Gur-8547@reddit
Even if you aren't tall, there's like, 1000 other things to hate about the CRJ as a passenger.
I'm not even 6 foot, and I've still paid a $200 premium to fly on an E175 over a CRJ.
Appropriate-Bird-354@reddit
I have frequently done so. At minimum to know I can actually store my carry on above my head.
777F_lover2008@reddit (OP)
Unless ur on the CRJ-100/-200 it’s mostly fine…
Fickle-Pop7905@reddit
Whats the point of this happening just to integrate it into a new company?
Idk abt economics or anything i just love the crjs
AccomplishedFudge174@reddit
they didn't make things easy for themselves.
I used to get this cute little plane between London City and Berlin. But it was popular, so they upgraded it to a much bigger plane from London Heathrow.
They didn't realise the reason it was popular is because some people prefer small cute little planes from small cute little airports (albeit now significantly less small and cute than it used to be!)
Xyro_22@reddit
Always hated the CRJ but it's sad for the people who lost their job.
777F_lover2008@reddit (OP)
They also operated A319s and A321P2Fs and most Employees will probably get transferred to Lufthansa City Airlines but yeah, sucks…
Full_Hunt_3087@reddit
Sad as these things are, Lufthansa's CEO admitted that CityLine was destined to phase out eventually anyway (at least for a large part), with City Airlines being created as its successor.
FullFlight9715@reddit
Easy way to push all the people into lower wages… LHs practices became really bad
ndksv22@reddit
LH mainline loses so much money, nowadays they simply can't afford that. I think they are the worst performing company in the whole LH group.
TheStalledAviator@reddit
That's genuinely not true. LH leadership deliberately obfuscates numbers in quarterly reports (in entirely legal manners) that makes it impossible to really know how good or bad Classic is doing vs the cheap new AOCs. Then they have internal contracts and practices which bleed money from mainline to shift money and profits to new ventures.
atokirina1991@reddit
They are but that is also because they give the new planes with better fuel efficiency to their low cost carrier. Also boeings compensation for late deliveries indirectly benefits 'discover'. LHA's Management has made terrible decisions in the last ten years and now they blame the cabin crew for that? Ehhhh...
Dan787@reddit
This is over simplistic. Lufthansa has struggled to be cost competetive in Europe for a long time - it can't go on honouring legacy labour agreements forever. And the other side of it is that the CRJ has very poor economics, which the increased fuel prices have only made worse.
I'm surprised to see them do this so abruptly, but it was inevitable to happen in the next year or two.
Not_Cube@reddit
City airlines, catered by city wok.
No-Yesterday-7933@reddit
I guess that’s Lufthansa’s payback to the unions for ruining their centennial…
(If it wouldn’t effect so many people it would kinda be funny)
Adrien0623@reddit
Employees also got hit with a new German tax law which treats free travel tickets provided to employees to cover their journey between home and airport base as a benefit in kind. The equivalent value of the tickets is therefore included on their payslips for calculating their income tax rate. This hits those on lower salaries particularly hard, with several hundred euros in additional tax deducted.
AIRdomination@reddit
I really like CLH crews. Sad news.
Revolutionary-Gur960@reddit
What happened? Did it crash? Or just got retired? I'm not really aware of the news
777F_lover2008@reddit (OP)
Read the Text under the picture or click on my source if you speak German. It’s not that hard…
davo_nz@reddit
One strike too many.
Ramenastern@reddit
Except no. It was mainline staff mostly who was on strike on and off the last few days/weeks.
CityLine has been on the chopping block for ages because it has been loss-making for ages. The original plan was to shut down CityLine by the end of 2027, that already got pulled forward to end of 2026, and now got pulled forward to being effective more or less immediately because fuel prices at the moment mean that losses increased. They're also retiring their whole CRJ fleet and pulling forward the last A340-600 and 747-400 retirements.
If anything, the shutdown of CityLine is yet another case of Lufthansa using subsidiaries to structure their operations and cost bases - and then find this has some side-effects. Like issues with different paygrades in Lufthansa group subsidiaries. And finding out that expecting a feeder airline to be profitable when that airline is largely there to make sure mainline gets enough pax to the FRA and MUC hubs... Maybe doesn't quite paint a full picture.
777F_lover2008@reddit (OP)
Source!
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