Lufthansa is poised to agree a deal to buy assets from insolvent Air Berlin, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, ahead of a deadline Thursday. The airline is set to buy Air Berlin's Niki leisure unit, its LG Walter regional airline and some additional short-haul aircraft, the source said Wednesday. "The deal with Lufthansa is done, there is agreement," the person said, adding that no contract had been signed yet. Lufthansa declined to say whether it was set to sign a deal, saying only it was confident it would meet the deadline for negotiations. Air Berlin said late last month that negotiations with Lufthansa and EasyJet would continue until Oct 12. The operations up for grabs also include access to take-off and landing slots at Air Berlin's hubs in Tegel in the German capital and Dusseldorf. <br/>
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Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings have reached a deal with the Vereinigung Cockpit pilot union and signed a new collective labour agreement (CLA) on all previously open issues. The signed contracts correspond to the agreement reached in March. Talks between Lufthansa and VC have been ongoing since 2014 and have resulted in 14 pilot strikes that cost the airline group E500m (US$590m). According to Lufthansa, the CLA is subject to approval of the trade union members in form of a ballot. Among others, the deals include agreements on framework collective and remuneration deals, as well as accords on pension and transitional payments through June 2022. The pension scheme will be changed from a system of defined benefits to a system of defined contributions, as already agreed with ground and cabin staff. <br/>