zebranz

Dear Mr Zebranz,
We promise – airberlin and NIKI are back at cruising altitude.

Following extensive reports regarding airberlin and NIKI in recent days, we would like to update you on our current status. The airberlin management team has recognised the issues with its conversion to a network carrier and taken countermeasures to stabilise its flight operations:

On 1st June, the airberlin schedule was realigned, especially at Tegel.
Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter, who operate European routes for airberlin with their fleet of Q400 aircraft, was responsible for many of the delays and cancellations during April and May. We have insisted on a change of management and improved staffing levels by hiring 50 new employees.
Since January 2017, airberlin has appointed around 700 flight attendants in order to strengthen its cabin staff.
airberlin has launched a volunteer programme. Around 150 administrative staff are currently supporting their operational colleagues.
airberlin continues to ensure that the ground handling service provider, AeroGround, improves its performance. Visible progress has already been made since it commenced operations on 26th March, particularly with regards to staff shortages.
Both the punctuality and reliability of airberlin flight operations have already seen significant improvement and are now back to the level that we have been reliably providing for 38 years.

All bookings are secure. You can therefore confidently book your next flight with airberlin and NIKI.
Due to the current high volume of calls received by our customer services, however, we hope you will understand that it may take a little longer to process your enquiry over the coming weeks. airberlin has doubled the size of its team and is intensively working to clear the backlog.

Are you wondering how this poor performance could arise?

With the change-over to the summer schedule at the end of March, airberlin underwent the most far-reaching restructure in its history. airberlin will emerge from this as a strong network airline with 75 aircraft, two long-haul hubs in Berlin and Dusseldorf and a focus on German and European city airports. As stated above, unfortunately airberlin's restructuring process is not proceeding as smoothly as we would have hoped and as you would rightly expect.

Holiday destinations have been transferred from airberlin to its subsidiary, NIKI. The breakdown of talks between TUI and Etihad regarding the formation of a new joint venture has changed nothing. This merely concerns a change to the corporate structure and therefore has no impact on the flight operations of the airberlin group. The NIKI winter schedule has already been released and NIKI will continue to offer a reliable service to warm weather destinations.

Finally, we would like to emphasise that nothing has changed for you as a topbonus member with regard to collecting and redeeming miles, as well as your status benefits with airberlin and NIKI. We look forward to welcoming you back onboard soon!

Thank you for your understanding and continued loyalty.

More information
Kind regards,