Lufthansa makes new offer to pilots in bid to solve long-running row

Lufthansa made a new offer on pay and conditions for its pilots on German collective labour contracts in a bid to resume talks with the union and end a long-running dispute. The airline is trying to cut costs and restructure pension schemes to better compete with low-cost rivals and leaner Gulf carriers. It has already agreed wide-ranging deals with ground staff and cabin crew, but has so far failed to reach agreement with around 5,400 pilots on German contracts. Along with a pay rise of 4.4% in 2 stages, and a one-off payment, Lufthansa Wednesday proposed keeping an early retirement scheme for new employees, provided the average retirement age of its German airline pilots is brought up to 60, from 59 now. Lufthansa had previously wanted to scrap the scheme for new pilots, but Vereinigung Cockpit wanted it to stay. <br/>