FRANKFURT: German airline
Lufthansa said Wednesday it would freeze new
hires and use unpaid leave and additional short-time
work to cut
costs to help cushion the economic
impact of the novel
coronavirus.
"To counteract the economic impact of the coronavirus of the early stage," the group, which also owns carriers
Austrian and
Swiss, said in a statement that "all new hires... will be reassessed, suspended or deferred".
Employees would be offered unpaid leave and more part-time work and the group would also seek to cut administrative costs, it said.