Lufthansa seeks 5500 in 2019 hiring spree

Germany’s Lufthansa Group plans to go on a hiring spree in 2019 with more than 5000 jobs up for grabs. The group says it expects about 5500 employees to start work this year in its home markets of Germany, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland, including some 1300 flight attendants and 500 future pilots. The flight attendants will primarily be hired at its Munich hub and at SWISS in Zurich. The core brand will see about 1200 new hires across all business areas at its Frankfurt and Munich hubs but the airline also expects to add a big number of additional employees worldwide. The 500 trainee pilots will begin their careers with Lufthansa Aviation Training and its European Flight Academy. READ Delta adds categories and color in boarding revamp. About 600 employees are being hired to ensure operational quality and to stabilize flight operations after what the airline describes as a “turbulent summer”. Lufthansa was dogged by delays and cancellations in 2018 with 18,000 flights axed up until August due to a mixture of factors including air traffic control strikes and weather. More than 500 job profiles are being offered worldwide through the group’s career portal Be-Lufthansa, which received over 170,000 applications in 2018. Engineering arm Lufthansa Technik is also set to grow significantly with more than 1200 jobs available in Germany, including 400 direct entries and 200 apprenticeships. The overall group also expects to hire more than 600 IT specialists. “This shows once again how popular Lufthansa is as an employer with its various business areas,” Bettina Volkens, head of Deutsche Lufthansa’s head of corporate human resources said in a statement. “As an international employer with employees hailing from 147 different countries, Lufthansa Group emphasizes diversity – and not just in terms of language and origin. “Equal opportunities for men and women at every level, that is what I stand for and that is what I stand up for.” The European group's airlines are Lufthansa, SWISS, Australian Airlines, Eurowings, Brussel Airlines and Sun Express. Also active in logistics, engineering and catering, the group employs about 135,000 people globally.