Rambuster

Disappointed? Thank God they will try this ex-CGN.
"But readers who were hoping that Lufthansa would operate Eurowings out of Frankfurt or Munich to cities such as New York, Dubai or Singapore will be disappointed."

oliver2002

Jump is not shelved, it will start in late summer 2015. The flight crew will be mainline 343 pilots since it will be covered by existing agreements. The cabin crew agreed to lower pay on 343 aircraft. Jump will operate under the mainline brand and customers will not notice anything different. The lower costs will be used to operate the aircraft to destinations that would not make sense otherwise. It seems one of the first ones is HYD, which was discontinued due to low premium demand.

starflyergold

We'll see about that

YuropFlyer

+1

Hiring cheap staff and tell the customers he won't notice it..

I've experienced it on LH group myself.. for example on the LX flights to PEK, where half of the Y crew is PEK-based.. let's say it nicely, I would have prefered Ryanair crews instead..

oliver2002

Its the same staff that is flying on LH A343s today. No one is hiring anyone new.

YuropFlyer

So, they're keeping their old staff, how exactly do they want to save money then? Paying less? Less benefits? Neither of those would keep service mentality at the same level, one has to assume..

Pay peanuts, get monkeys..

oliver2002

Again, longhaul Eurowings will get new staff, new aircraft and new destinations. Like Germanwings it will be distinctly different.

The 'Jump' project was just a cost cutting project to make flying to new/existing/abandoned destinations possible using LH mainline staff and aircraft.

YuropFlyer

My head hurts..

Which is (in absence of my magic ball) usually a good sign that something is overly complicated and not going to work.

starflyergold

Nothing motivates staff more than having lower pay on a higher density aircraft.... 5* are guaranteed

YuropFlyer

LH shouldn't just try to get 5*, they should go for no less than 6, no, 7*..

Überholen ohne einzuholen

Seriously, I don't know what LH's management plans really are, but they have announced SO MUCH in the past years, and yet achieved so little (apart from scaring away former loyal customers) one should wonder if they aren't all secretly sent by EK or QR Their whole plans are all so much of a clutter**** it's impossible for me to see them working out..

Having a few long haul planes Ex-CGN to compete with the ME3, really? Having a 4U with a cost base still much higher than Ryan&Easy to compete against those on pricing, really? Having totally watered down the LH brand, yet somehow wanting to play in the QR category? It goes on..

Based in DACH, I'll still be booking LH group when they're offering me best price / best value, but the times where loyalty was a two-way thing are clearly over.

Building up a small charter airline to operate point to point, is that really the solution Herr Spohr?

When did LH took over LX, and OS? And still till today, their systems are not working together at all (in bad days, even hostile against each other)

Such things as making the whole group running on the same platform should have been #1 on the list in the very day LX got bought. Also, fleet management, same here, LH seems to enjoy buying every single existing plane on this planet. Wonder when they'll buy some Superjets or Comac's..

Yes, they want to reduce their different fleet types (and then announcing that LX will get 5 777's, to add to their 330's and 340's.. yes, they want to run all of them at the same time.. - wonder if they couldn't maybe squeeze in a 747-8 or two.. )

The whole LH group seems to have no centralized strategy. Build here something, cancel there, upgrade this, downsize that..

The departments often seems to work against each other, as least that's the impression from outside..

I don't have much hope for LH at the current situation.. sure, with the economy doing well and fuel prices being low (they obviously keep the fuel surcharge aka international surcharge up..) they will still make some profits, but in the long run? I don't see LH being more successful than the likes of Air France (which they seem to copy from a lot more recently regarding FFP downgrade and strikes..) - which aren't..

So, it will be a slow and painful death..

Funnily enough, AB, which many had seen death for a long time, is probably the biggest winner from the whole disaster LH is running in..

starflyergold

Let's not forget TK, having access to the longhaul-Eurowings books means it can syphon off even more German travellers onto its full service offering (going east and south).

YuropFlyer

Oh yes, TK, where LH seems to be changing it's mind on a daily base if they're friend or foe..

Concerto

I hope so, AB is a decent airline in my experience (apart from an apparent number of baggage handling problems) and I really hope they stick around. Because I dread a Germany without any competition from the likes of AB. Then LH would truly be able to hold us hostage.

UltraRant

So this is the secret to major airline CEO-ing. You completely ruin and shatter your mainline's reputation, make sure you create a hostile work environment and initially don't respond to any developments in your region and field of operations. And then, when business is getting beyond bad, you respond by creating a bunch of new airlines where you experiment with cutting costs by creating new pools and complex networks of contractors and subcontractors, serving only one drink on board to your customers instead of two, by making sure your staff goes on strike as soon as you announce yet another enhancement, by flying old junk that's heavily fuel consuming and slightly less comfortable than modern metal (which you will underline by making the seat configuration extra dense. Customers love that!). In addition, you absolutely make sure that none of the systems or available infrastructure is shared, aligned or systematically being integrated to cut costs on such platforms. This all so you can send out some long haul aircraft to places that have proven not to be too profitable in the past. On a side note, you make sure that the bonus program is destroyed, that all amenities like lounge access and priority luggage are made unavailable for your new airline (because they cost money if customers who booked a ticket because of it use those services) and that you shout that your main line will keep focus on the customer that just ran away: the business customers. That will surely get you back in business!

I'm happy that I'm not an airline CEO. I would have done it all wrong...

weero

Will it be jump started or is it a self runner?
Well they are not new ... just grumpy and underpaid. The "dumb model customer" from the airline business school should not notice the difference.
Jump won't be overly dense, I think. Just cheap. Maybe UA style catering, MS style drinks ...