Early in the corona crisis, Lufthansa said that the group would need government aid. Conditions for the state loan are currently being negotiated.
- Lufthansa * does not appear to be satisfied with the terms of the loan.
- The airline has now surprisingly announced that it will also consider self-administered bankruptcy as a way out of the crisis.
- However, such a procedure would be a very bad scenario for Lufthansa customers .
What would be the consequences of Lufthansa self-administered bankruptcy for passengers?
In the case of self-administered bankruptcy, passengers' chances of receiving ticket reimbursement or outstanding compensation are reduced . Because all claims would automatically become part of the bankruptcy estate.
"If Lufthansa is serious, it would be an absurdity . First, the airline demands multi-billion dollar support from the state, but at the same time it is clearly illegal towards its own customers," said Oskar de Felice, legal expert at Flightright. "The airline not only delays reimbursements for canceled flights, but deliberately only offers vouchers. Now it is apparently being considered to simply pull the customer money into bankruptcy."
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As a creditor, passengers are faced with a lengthy process, at the end of which they are likely to remain at the bulk of their costs - at a time when many of them are likely to rely on reimbursement. "We have been calling for the federal government to provide bankruptcy protection for airline tickets for a long time. The current situation shows more than clearly how bitterly necessary such protection is," said Philipp Kadelbach, managing director and founder of Flightright.
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Lufthansa passengers could pay twice in the long term
If Lufthansa opts for self-administered bankruptcy, this is no guarantee of a long-term rescue . If the financial reorganization fails on its own, government aid may still be necessary in the medium term. That would be the worst case for passengers: Insolvency means that the Lufthansa customers affected not only lose their money, but also finance the continued existence of the airline through their taxes.
State aid for profitable airlines is justified because passengers also have an interest in their continued existence . However, this must not be done on their backs. "Airlines should be helped in any case. At the same time, it cannot be that in the Covid 19 crisis, passengers are left hanging and should always be financially shorter than airlines," added Kadelbach.
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* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.