Lufthansa's AI-Driven Restructuring: 4,000 Jobs Cut as Airline Embraces Digital Transformation

Lufthansa axes 4,000 jobs while betting big on AI to fly leaner and faster - here are the positions affected

Lufthansa has announced a massive restructuring plan that will cut 4,000 jobs as the airline embraces AI and automation in order to make its operations more efficient. The German airline group made this announcement during its Capital Markets Day in Munich. They stressed that their long-term goal is to improve profitability and efficiency. Lufthansa airline announced the change on Monday, saying that it is part of a larger digital transformation strategy that will help the company make more money, as per a report by CNBC. The German airline said that most of the job cuts will be in administrative roles, especially at its main base in Germany. The company says that the restructuring is meant to get rid of duplicate work and adjust to the "profound changes brought about by digitalization." Lufthansa said in a statement during its Capital Markets Day in Munich, "The Lufthansa Group is reviewing which activities will no longer be necessary in the future, for example due to duplication of work. In particular, the profound changes brought about by digitalization and the increased use of artificial intelligence will lead to greater efficiency in many areas and processes." ALSO READ: Tropical storm Imelda threatens East Coast! See which cities are most at risk right now Lufthansa is one of many companies that are adding AI to their plans to restructure. Earlier this year, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said that AI helped the company cut its workforce by 40%. Salesforce and Accenture also announced big staff cuts because they were using AI. Lufthansa thinks that AI will make things run more smoothly and free up resources for faster growth, as per a report by CNBC. "I've reduced it from 9,000 heads to about 5,000, because I need less heads," Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said at the time. Accenture CEO Julie Sweet said in a call last week, "We are investing in upskilling our reinventors, which is our primary strategy," Sweet said, adding that the company is "exiting on a compression timeline" people for whom reskilling isn't a "viable path." ALSO READ: Forget scratches -- iPhone 17 now plagued by dropped calls and weak signals Lufthansa has set ambitious new goals for 2024, even though it will face problems like staff strikes, delays in flights, and tough competition from around the world. The airline now thinks that its adjusted operating margin will go up to 8-10% from 2028, up from its previous goal of 8%. It also expects adjusted free cash flow to be more than €2.5 billion a year. Analysts at UBS were happy with the targets, saying they were better than what the market had expected, as per a report by CNBC. ALSO READ: Apple just revamped the iPhone lock screen -- here's what iOS 26 delivers Lufthansa's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell sharply by 39% from the previous year to €1.65 billion ($1.8 billion) in 2024. Its annual operating margin was only 4.4%, which was well below its strategic goal. At the end of the year, the company's stock was down 23%. Lufthansa stock, on the other hand, has been going up lately. Since the beginning of the year, it has gone up 25%, and on Monday it went up 0.9%. Lufthansa's leaders think that digitalization and AI are key to making the company profitable again. The airline wants to stay competitive in a crowded market and ensure long-term growth by focusing on automation and making processes more efficient. How many jobs is Lufthansa cutting? By 2030, Lufthansa will lay off 4,000 people around the world. What role does AI play in Lufthansa's plan? The airline says AI will make things run more smoothly and cut down on duplicate work, which will make things more efficient.

Lufthansa Group to cut 4,000 jobs by 2030 with help of AI | BreakingNews

Lufthansa Group says it will shed 4,000 jobs by 2030 with the help of artificial intelligence, digitalisation and consolidating work among member airlines -- even as the company reported strong demand for air travel and predicted stronger profits in years ahead. Most of the lost jobs would be in Germany - and the focus would be on administrative rather than operational roles, the company said. Lufthansa said it was moving to deepen the integration among member airlines and is "reviewing which activities will be no longer necessary in the future, for instance due to duplication of work". Lufthansa Group includes Germany's biggest airline, Lufthansa, as well as Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and others. It said in a statement that "profound changes brought about by digitalisation and artificial intelligence" would increase efficiency across business areas and activities. The airline group laid out its strategic plans at a presentation for investors and analysts in Munich, saying it was seeing strong demand for air travel amid limits on offerings of flights due to stretched supply chains for planes and engines. That means a tight market that is keeping planes full and boosting revenue. Lufthansa Group said it expected "significantly increased profitability" by the end of the decade and was readying what it called the largest fleet modernisation in the company's history that would add more than 230 new aircraft by 2030, including 100 long-haul aircraft. The company is a globally operating aviation group that includes network airlines, point-to-point airline Eurowings and service companies. It had 101,709 employees in 2024 and generated revenue of 37.6 billion euros (£33 billion). Its registered headquarters is in Cologne, while executives and operational offices are located in Frankfurt.