The Swiss airline hires temporary flight attendants from Lufthansa because it doesn’t have enough of its own. The payment causes trouble for some Swiss cabin employees.
That The working atmosphere at Swiss has been tense for months. After 1,700 full-time positions have been cut, the remaining employees often have to do more – and sometimes for less money. This causes frustration for many.
The cabin crew is also unhappy. Because Swiss currently has relief measures such as thinning out flight schedules or reducing services still not enough flight attendants. In order to further defuse the problem, around 70 flying colleagues from Lufthansa will be helping out at the Swiss national airline for nine months from July and deployed on short and long-haul routes.
Lufthansa colleagues at an advantage?
“We have already received the first applications,” said a spokesman for Swiss. The airline has agreed on the interim solution with the cabin union Kapers. Nevertheless, it causes trouble for Swiss cabin crew.
Because in the eyes of some Swiss cabin crews, reinforcements from Germany are treated better than they are. Their own wages are barely enough to live on, it is said, for example, or it would no longer work without a second job. The conditions for reinforcements from Germany have pissed off some at Swiss.
Swiss: Equality, no betterment
The Lufthansa flight attendants receive a Swiss employment contract from Swiss for their maximum nine-month assignment, in which their years of service are taken into account. In addition, a room is made available to them and they also receive a special payment of 500 francs per month (480 euros) for “additional expenses”.
According to a Swiss spokesman, it is by no means a question of improving the position of Lufthansa colleagues, but of equality. “Average health insurance premiums, social security contributions and cleaning costs, among other things, were taken into account when calculating the additional payment,” he explains. The provision of accommodation is necessary because it is a temporary assignment. “Therefore, it cannot be assumed that the place of residence will be relocated to Switzerland.”