Luxair, Unions Sign Collective Work Agreement for Airline Staff

In a joint press release issued on Tuesday 18 February 2025, Luxair and the LCGB and OGBL trade unions announced the signing of a collective work agreement for Luxair staff members; this followed disagreement between the negotiating parties earlier this year.

On Monday 17 February 2025, Luxair's management and the contracting unions LCGB and OGBL reached an agreement on the renewal of the collective work contract, resulting in a new collective agreement for employees until 31 December 2027.

According to the parties involved, "this outcome reflects the balance achieved between the expectations of employees and the economic and commercial challenges faced by the company". They said their decisions were "guided both by the desire to recognise past efforts of the staff members and by the need to prepare a sustainable and prosperous future for everyone".

The discussions took place "in a spirit of respect and responsibility" and reported resulted in "significant advancements" in the interest of Luxair employees. These improvements are said to help strengthen the company's social and economic model by consolidating achievements and ensuring working conditions adapted to changes within the company, particularly the introduction of the new aircraft fleet.

As such, this collective work agreement is described as "ensur[ing] a fair balance between recognising the efforts of all employees, job stability and adaptation to future challenges". It is also said to mark "a decisive step toward solid development and the continuation of social dialogue, benefiting all stakeholders".

The results of these negotiations are structured around the following key measures:

- Adjustment of salary scales for pilots, ground staff and cabin crew

The new salary scale for pilots, now comprising only two categories (Co-Pilot and Captain), reportedly allows Luxair to better align its offer with current market conditions. It also facilitates the transition to the new aircraft fleet and provides better career management for pilots, according to the press release.

The new transitional salary scales for ground staff and cabin crew are said to eliminate negative steps, ensure annual salary progression and replace biennial increases with annual increments starting from the former grade 25. The respective parties also agreed on specific measures such as the improvement of the allowance for Senior Cabin Crew (Purser).

- Measures for employees who helped achieve 2.6 million passengers after the pandemic (recovery of frozen salary scale advancements)

The parties recalled that, due to the "dramatic economic effects" of the COVID-19 pandemic on Luxair, it had been agreed with the LCGB and OGBL unions, as part of the aviation sector’s tripartite agreement, to freeze employees' salary scale advancements starting in 2021 for a period of three years. However, thanks to the efforts of the staff and the improvement of the company's economic situation, the social partners had agreed to lift this measure prematurely as of January 2023.

As part of these collective agreement negotiations, and in recognition of the efforts made by all employees, it was decided that these salary scale advancements would be reintroduced into salaries starting 1 January 2025. A salary increase in the form of a special crisis exit allowance of €50 gross at the index 944.43, indexed and paid thirteen times a year, will be paid starting 1 October 2025, for employees (excluding pilots) under employment contracts on 31 December 2024.

- Flexibility measures to improve work-life balance

The parties reported that "significant adjustments" have been made to the current provisions to better meet the needs of employees and Luxair, as well as to improve the quality of work life. These changes include improvements to working conditions and schedules, namely: increased number of days off for cabin crews; six-day roster planning; minimisation of single off-days; flight factorisation for crews the possibility of using flextime hours in full-day increments; allocation of an additional day off as of 55 years old; partial conversion of the thirteenth month into vacation days; the implementation of a home office policy.

- Strengthening social dialogue

Beyond the transitional decisions regarding the salary scale for ground staff and cabin crew, a joint committee will be established within the collective agreement to strengthen social dialogue and ensure an open and continuous exchange between the LCGB and OGBL unions and Luxair's management. This joint committee will continue to work on three topics within the framework of this agreement, namely: the regulation of flight duty for cabin crew (Flight Duty Regulations - FDR ); the salary scales for former workers and former employees; the text of the collective work agreement itself.

Luxair has also committed itself to recruiting sufficient staff members to "significantly improve" the reliability and practicality of flight schedules, as well as making reasonable investments to enhance its schedule management programme.

In parallel with "unprecedented investments" in the aircraft fleet, this "exceptional effort" is said to be "part of a forward-looking vision where the value of human capital and social dialogue between social partners are seen as key drivers of Luxair's success".