Lufthansa management should be tougher with unions, says top investor Kuehne

Reuters

Fri, May 16, 2025, 4:05 PM 1 min read

BERLIN (Reuters) -Lufthansa's absorption should beryllium much vigorous successful fending disconnected absorption from labour representatives, apical capitalist Klaus-Michael Kuehne was quoted arsenic saying connected Saturday, pointing to the hose group's stock price.

Lufthansa is counting connected lucrative transatlantic routes arsenic it strives to revive its namesake halfway airline, bogged down by wage talks and precocious pay, and find caller sources of gross arsenic it struggles to vie with Asian carriers.

Shares successful the group, which includes brands similar Swiss, Austrian and much precocious Italy's ITA, person gained astir 6% year-to-date, astir successful enactment with its adjacent Air France-KLM but lagging good down British Airways genitor IAG.

Kuehne told the Welt americium Sonntag play paper that the German radical had structural problems, adding that absorption from the works assembly and walkouts made management's enactment difficult.

"Whether the enforcement committee takes capable enactment remains to beryllium seen. In my opinion, much could beryllium done," said the 87-year-old billionaire investor, whose institution Kuehne Aviation is Lufthansa's biggest shareholder with astir a 15% stake.

He besides owns stakes successful Swiss logistics radical Kuehne + Nagel and German chemicals trader Brenntag.

(Reporting by Thomas Seythal; Editing by Susan Fenton)