One Airline Could Cut 26,000 Jobs As Travel Industry Still Hurt By Coronavirus

Germany’s largest airline, Lufthansa, could cut as many as 26,000 jobs amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The company is undergoing restructuring after it received a 9 billion euro ($10.26 billion) bailout from the German government on May 25.

As part of the bailout, Berlin would receive a 20% stake in the airline. Lufthansa originally pledged to cut 10,000 jobs as part of the restructuring process, but now the carrier says the job cuts will be “significantly more” than that figure.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a drop in demand for air travel, pushing many companies on the verge of bankruptcy.

On April 25, the U.S. Treasury said it would disburse an additional $9.5 billion in payroll support to U.S.-based airlines affected by the crisis. Washington has so far allocated at least $12.4 billion in aid to the airline sector.

Lufthansa, in terms of passengers carried, is the second-largest airline in Europe, behind low-cost carrier Ryanair. The company, which was founded in 1953, gets its name comes from “Luft,” the German word for "air" and “Hansa,” for the Hanseatic League. During the 2019 fiscal year, Lufthansa was in the top 30 publicly traded German companies by market capitalization

Germany’s economy has been hit hard by the coronavirus. German GDP decreased by 2.2% in the first quarter of the year.