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Lufthansa is being removed from the country’s benchmark stock index for the first time since the gauge’s inception more than three decades ago, after travel restrictions aimed at stemming the coronavirus pandemic sent the stock plunging. Lufthansa will be replaced by real estate company Deutsche Wohnen AG in the DAX Index, Deutsche Boerse said Thursday. The change will come into effect June 22. Shares in Lufthansa have fallen 38% this year, giving the airline a market capitalization of about E4.9b. That makes it the 60th largest German company by market value, while the DAX is reserved for the country’s 30 biggest companies. The first half has been a tumultuous one for the German carrier, with the pandemic all but halting its business. Its massive size -- with operations spanning from catering to maintenance -- meant it has bled cash faster than other airlines. The bailout will inflate Lufthansa’s debt and interest payments, and existing shareholdings will be diluted as the government takes a stake. The company said on Wednesday it will slash employee expenses and look at spinoffs to bolster cash flow.<br/>

Lufthansa Group CE Carsten Spohr is not ruling out a possible future part-sale of the airline’s MRO arm, but stresses that the group intends to remain the majority shareholder as the technical division is “close to our heart”. Speaking during a Q1 results briefing on 3 June, Spohr confirmed that an IPO for shares in Lufthansa Technik had been discussed as an option prior to the coronavirus crisis. Noting existing co-operation arrangements with manufacturers and other airlines, Spohr says an alternative option could be to merge parts of LHT with another party. LHT has separate, jointly owned engine overhaul shops with GE Aviation, MTU and Rolls-Royce. Additionally, the German MRO provider has established close partnerships with multiple OEMs for certain products and services. A shareholding in Air China’s maintenance centre Ameco was among Lufthansa’s early MRO investments, prior LHT’s establishment in 1995. Spohr says: “Can I imagine to bring part of [LHT] to the stock exchange or merge some of it with a partner? Yes.” But he rules out the possibility of divesting LHT’s entire shareholding. ”Lufthansa Technik is part of our core… It’s close to our heart. We will not give that up easily at all.” He says the coronavirus crisis has put any ownership-change evaluations on hold as “the market at this point of time is the wrong one to do any divestment”.<br/>

A government panel is stepping up to help debt-ridden THAI pass any regulatory and contractual hurdles ahead of the carrier's planned debt rehabilitation, according to Prapas Kong-Ied, DG of the State Enterprise Policy Office. A state-appointed committee following up on the airline's rehabilitation, headed by Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam and with Prapas sitting as a member, will arrange the help, he said. The airline turned to the government because it has many contracts with trading partners and legal obligations that can only be resolved with the state's help. These problems should be cleared before THAI enters rehabilitation, Prapas said Thursday. Prapas said the airline formally asked the Wissanu committee to coordinate with the government during a meeting on Monday when THAI acting president Chakkrit Parapuntaku presented a progress report on the carrier's rehabilitation plan which will next go to the Central Bankruptcy Court (CBC). THAI needs to stay in business to generate revenue and pay off 244.9b baht of outstanding debt to national and international creditors. The airline will address the court and try to convince creditors the rehabilitation plan will work, Prapas said. The airline specifically needs the government's help in reallocating slots for its flights.<br/>

Air NZ may need to slash more jobs on top of 4000 redundancies it's already made as it responds to Covid-19, its CE says. In a letter sent to staff on Friday Greg Foran laid out a plan and timeline to get Air NZ back on its feet which included removing around $150m more from its wages bill starting Friday. "We are open to explore all options with unions that help meet our cost saving goals, but I do want to be clear that we need to brace ourselves for more discussions around leave without pay, reduced hours, job share, voluntary exits with redundancies as the last option," Foran said. E tū union head of aviation Savage said staff were angered and dismayed at the news. Last week Air NZ said its initial labour reductions of 4000 staff was expected to drive savings of $350 to $400m a year. “The company is heavily focused on saving money and is in danger of being blinded to the importance of treating both employees and customers with respect,” Savage said. Foran, who is 123 days into the job as CE, said over the next two years the airline would transition through a three-step plan to survive, revive and thrive. The plan would take it through to its annual results announcement in late August 2022, which is in around 800 days’ time.<br/>