Lufthansa spent the last two decades forging a business empire that stretched across the wealthiest countries of continental Europe. Forced into retreat by the coronavirus crisis, it’s now bogged down by ties to four governments as it seeks a multi-billion euro bailout. The airline warned last Thursday that it’s running low on cash and won’t be able to survive without state aid from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Belgium. Each of those countries contributed former national carriers to the sprawling airline group, and negotiations are ongoing for an aid package that could total E10b. The talks are snared on how much the German carrier will receive from each country, and how much sway politicians will have in the airline after the cash is handed over, the people said. Chancellor Angela Merkel, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, Economy Minister Peter Altmaier, Transportation Minister Andreas Scheuer and Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr will hold crisis talks on a rescue package at the beginning of next week. “We need to find a solution which will not lead to a permanent politicisation of Lufthansa, ” said Christian Democratic Union lawmaker Joachim Pfeiffer, who is involved in the negotiations. Lufthansa fell as much as 8.4% in Frankfurt, and is now at its lowest in 17 years. “Right now, it is quite literally state aid or bust, ” said Bernstein analyst Daniel Roeska.<br/>
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Any state support for Lufthansa must come with strings attached, a senior legislator for the Social Democrats said, suggesting that management should be banned from receiving dividends or bonuses. Carsten Schneider, a senior legislator in the junior party in Germany's governing coalition, was implicitly ruling out earlier calls from a senior figure in Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives for the state to take be a silent partner in the airline, whose business has collapsed due to the corona crisis. "State support without gaining a say over the company in question may seem very appealing to some managers, but for the SPD that is out of the question," Schneider said. "Management at companies which turn to state aid can't take bonuses or pay out dividends to shareholders, for example."<br/>
Polish airline LOT is in talks with Boeing to modify its 787 Dreamliner jets into temporary cargo carriers, a LOT spokesman said, in a move that could help to narrow losses from the coronavirus crisis. With passenger air travel virtually halted, airlines such as LOT are searching for alternative ways to generate revenue until demand picks up again. "We are in talks with the aircraft manufacturer about ... adapting the passenger aircraft (Dreamliner) to cargo transport," Michal Czernicki said. "If we get approval and meet all safety requirements, we will become the first airline in the world that will adapt the Dreamliner for such transport." LOT, central Europe's biggest state-controlled airline, has spent the past month mainly bringing home Poles stranded abroad after Poland suspended inbound flights from March 15. The airline transported some 54,000 people aboard these flights between March 15 and April 5, compared with abount 10 million passengers flown by LOT in 2019. <br/>