BERLIN (Reuters) - Lufthansa is planning to hire nearly 20,000 new employees by the end of 2023 as the aviation industry recovers from the pandemic, according to Chief Executive Carsten Spohr.
During the pandemic, which paralysed air traffic worldwide, the flagship carrier shrank to around 100,000 employees from just under 140,000, causing operational problems this summer in some locations where too many staff had been cut.
A Lufthansa spokesperson added that 12,000 of the positions would be completely new while roughly 8,000 would be to replace employees who were leaving the company.
Spohr told a news briefing on Monday night that July and August had been fantastic for the airline and "we have no plans to leave the profitability we achieved in the second quarter."
However, the airline won't be back at pre-crisis capacity levels next year, he said, with an eye on a looming recession that will likely hit Germany harder than other countries.