The AUA’s offer has not changed. The on-board staff are offered an 18 percent increase, including eight percent this year and five percent each in 2025 and 2026. The flying staff rejects this. The dispute over money after the 20th round of KV negotiations is having a negative impact on the AUA’s balance sheet.
uncertainty
“The longer this conflict lasts, the more trust the AUA will lose among passengers,” says aviation expert Kurt Hofmann to KURIER. “Austrian Airlines has ten million euros less revenue due to the uncertainty of passengers. When an airline is dealing with such problems and strikes, people turn to their competitors.” Addendum: “The longer it takes, the more it damages the AUA.” The airline has a lot of competition in Vienna, including the low-cost airlines Ryanair (Lauda), Wizz Air and Eurowings, as well as Turkish Airlines, Emirates, and Air France-KLM.
“Increasing AUA’s salaries to Lufthansa levels is unfinanceable for AUA,” says the expert. “The AUA has always had a good standing because it is extremely efficient and punctual and the Vienna hub works well compared to other Lufthansa hubs. And it has a cost advantage that would be offset by higher salaries.”
Not much scope
The fact that the first quarter of 2024 resulted in a high loss at AUA is not unusual and is due to the winter. “The first quarter is always difficult for airlines in Europe. They earn the most money in the second and third quarters,” says the aviation consultant. “Vienna is a very tourist market, and the AUA has so far had an ideal cost structure to deal with it. There’s not much scope.”
In the worst case, the AUA will shrink and feeder routes to the Vienna hub will be canceled. Then the AUA has a problem in long-haul traffic.
“But the decision will be made at Lufthansa in Frankfurt,” says Hofmann. “If the AUA is successful as a Lufthansa affiliated airline, it will also have more say. If it is not successful, Frankfurt will not provide any more aircraft.” Addendum: “Aircraft in the Lufthansa network only go to places where money is made sustainably.”