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Lufthansa First Class on board a Boeing 747
Photo:
Charles Yunck / IMAGO
Caviar and champagne on board, a Porsche chauffeur service on the ground and luxurious bathrooms with bathtubs: Lufthansa likes to praise itself as the quality leader, especially when it comes to its first class.
But reality looks different.
Instead of vintage champagne from 2004, there is only sparkling wine from Business Class, apricot jam instead of Nutella with the dry breakfast croissant and the salmon is gone in the third row of first class.
The fact that the fruit yoghurt is frozen is only acknowledged with a weary smile from the crew, who are looking forward to their end of the day after a long-distance round trip from Buenos Aires to Frankfurt.
Arriving on the ground, the passenger should dry himself with a bathrobe because the towels in the first-class lounge are gone.
Welcome to the top world of Europe's largest airline.
In frequent flyer forums, more and more people are asking themselves how Lufthansa managed to be a »five-star airline«.
This is an award from the British management consultancy Skytrax.
Company boss Carsten Spohr proudly accepted the golden badge in 2017.
One is the »only European 5-star airline«.
Doubts about the meaning of frequent flyer status
The airline's announcement that it will in future charge money for a seat reservation or change in the Economy Light fare also has consequences for Lufthansa's best customers.
Because frequent flyers with the status of a senator or HON Circle member will also have to pay 25 euros for the seat of their choice in the future if they book this fare.
The measure is part of a devaluation of the status that has been happening for years in the eyes of many top customers and is being discussed more widely in frequent flyer and expert forums.
Lufthansa's long-haul cabin is considered outdated, and recently there have been repeated problems with the supply of food and drinks.
Customers also sometimes had to wait longer than an hour to speak to the “exclusive Senator hotline”.
Lufthansa also closed several lounges, and many German airports no longer have such waiting areas for frequent flyers.
Lufthansa wants to remedy the situation in some areas, hired more staff for the call centers and is planning an upgrade of the cabin equipment in addition to further fleet modernization.
The airline is also accommodating frequent flyers by distributing double status miles on flights until June 30th.
This makes it easier to maintain or acquire Frequent Traveller, Senator or HON Circle status.
But more and more customers are questioning what exactly this is supposed to bring.
Because currently, it seems, Lufthansa has lost touch with the top of the premium airlines.
Employees are now more or less open about their employer, saying that they are sometimes embarrassed about what Lufthansa presents to customers in the premium segment.
"Some of us are more fearful than ever," says a senior ground worker who has been with us for more than 20 years.
»You don't dare to say anything or to make a decision in the interests of the customer because you have to fear the consequences.«
The rigorous course does not even stop at cheap items.
The first-class terminal, a 1,800-square-meter lounge at Frankfurt Airport with a bar, restaurant, bedrooms and work cubicles, started handing out rubber ducks years ago.
They became a cult and are traded on Ebay for considerable sums.
The rubber duckies are now only issued by certain terminal employees, a cost-cutting measure, as one employee explains.
This is also the case in the first-class lounges.
Lufthansa's business with first-class tickets is still going well.
The currently most expensive flight ticket in the Kranich Group costs up to 22,600 euros for a return flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco.
Lufthansa boss Spohr recently casually stated that even for this sum, tickets could no longer be obtained on the route.
