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Parked Lufthansa planes in Frankfurt
Photo: Michael Probst / AP
What a euphoria there was when about two months ago the shareholders of Lufthansa approved the so-called rescue package for the troubled Lufthansa with an overwhelming majority.
Even the rebellious new major shareholder, Knorr-Bremse Patriarch Heinz Hermann Thiele, gave in at the last moment at the annual general meeting at the end of June.
The struggle was finally over, the observers rejoiced, and the customers and employees could be happy too, as the worst - the impending bankruptcy - had been averted for now.
What a fallacy, the drama about Germany's former flagship airline has only just begun.
And politics is also to blame for that.
She had imposed conditions on the moribund company that a very healthy company could meet: the silent contribution of almost six billion euros has to earn interest at four percent in the first two years and then gradually with up to nine and a half percent.
Dream conditions in times of negative interest rates - for the financier.
At the same time, the federal government was allowed to acquire its direct stake of 20 percent at a bargain price.
The Lufthansa Executive Board fouled revenge on Monday.
CEO Carsten Spohr and his colleagues want to take 150 aircraft out of service and cut significantly more than the 22,000 jobs planned so far, including through layoffs.
The friendly Mr. Spohr becomes a tough renovator.
In view of the falling demand, he has little choice but to turn Lufthansa into shrinkage and initiate emergency sales.
Otherwise the group will go bankrupt after all or the federal government will have to help Lufthansa, a nightmare from the point of view of the group's board of directors after months of tussle over state aid in early summer.
Just no further state aid, says Lufthansa
Option two was eliminated from the outset for Spohr and his colleagues, as his board colleague Harry Hohmeister, whose contract was extended prematurely on Monday, revealed in an interview with SPIEGEL at the end of August.
"We don't want to be fed, we want to be entrepreneurial," he said at the time, "and that's why the costs have to go down."
In no case do they want to "go into a financing round with the federal government".
In the coming year, 50 percent seat occupancy should be enough in order not to fly in losses.
From 2022, when the regulation on short-time allowance is expected to expire, it should be 66 percent.
But what if that doesn't work?
At the moment it looks bad, the autumn break this year will hardly take place in the Lufthansa booking system.
Lufthansa cannot and does not want to take on more debt.
First of all, parts of the company could be sold.
The remaining parts of the caterer LSG Sky Chefs, a minority share of Lufthansa Technik or the financial service provider AirPlus are considered predestined.
But especially for LSG and Lufthansa Technik, there is currently no buyer who would put a lot of money on the table in these uncertain days - that's why we have to wait here so as not to sell below value.
Miles & More is still considered inviolable
Daughters like the frequent flyer program Miles & More are currently considered inviolable according to group insiders - it is too close to the core business.
If business does not start again and consequently the savings plans are insufficient, aircraft would have to be sold.
But even these are unlikely to be worth much on the market for a long time to come.
Either the state would then have to pay direct subsidies to the group, which Lufthansa had always criticized competitors in the past.
Or Germany's largest airline takes refuge in what is known as a protective shield procedure, a kind of insolvency light.
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