Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 16, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleTop investor Kuehne urges Lufthansa to be tougher with unions amid challenges like wage talks and share performance lagging behind competitors.
BERLIN (Reuters) -Lufthansa's management should be more vigorous in fending off resistance from labour representatives, top investor Klaus-Michael Kuehne was quoted as saying on Saturday, pointing to the airline group's share price.
Lufthansa is counting on lucrative transatlantic routes as it strives to revive its namesake core airline, bogged down by wage talks and high pay, and find new sources of revenue as it struggles to compete with Asian carriers.
Shares in the group, which includes brands like Swiss, Austrian and more recently Italy's ITA, have gained around 6% year-to-date, roughly in line with its peer Air France-KLM but lagging well behind British Airways parent IAG.
Kuehne told the Welt am Sonntag weekly newspaper that the German group had structural problems, adding that resistance from the works council and walkouts made management's work difficult.
"Whether the executive board takes sufficient action remains to be seen. In my opinion, more could be done," said the 87-year-old billionaire investor, whose company Kuehne Aviation is Lufthansa's biggest shareholder with around a 15% stake.
He also owns stakes in Swiss logistics group Kuehne + Nagel and German chemicals trader Brenntag.
(Reporting by Thomas Seythal; Editing by Susan Fenton)
The main topic is Lufthansa's management being urged to take a tougher stance with unions by top investor Klaus-Michael Kuehne.
Klaus-Michael Kuehne is a billionaire investor and Lufthansa's biggest shareholder through Kuehne Aviation.
Lufthansa faces challenges with wage negotiations, high pay, and competition from other airlines.
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