Lufthansa’s Flight Attendants Are Refusing To Work With Embattled Airline On Long-Awaited Service Improvements

Lufthansa’s flight attendants are refusing to work with the embattled German flag carrier on much-hyped and long-awaited improvements to its onboard service – something that the airline calls Project FOX, which is short for Future Onboard Experience.

In a desperate bid to improve the airline’s lagging customer satisfaction scores, Lufthansa has been working to “fundamentally redesign the onboard experience,” and Project FOX has the ambitious goal of ‘redefining flying on long-haul routes.”

Lufthansa has already set aside €70 million to spend on Project FOX within the next 12 months, with plans to roll out many of the onboard improvements from next Spring – the airline’s centenary year.

While Lufthansa is keeping many of the specifics of Project FOX under wraps for now, we do already know some of the elements that the airline is desperate to introduce. These include:

• A more flexible dining experience in Business Class, allowing passengers to choose when they want to have their second meal rather than on a set schedule for everyone.
• Increasing the number of meal options in Premium Economy and Economy from two to three entree dishes.
• Brand new table and serviceware in all travel classes from First Class to Economy.
• New blankets and pillows, as well as upgraded amenities.

There is, however, a big problem looming over Project Fox – the official flight attendant union is now refusing to work with the airline on the implementation of these improvements as a dispute over staffing levels on long-haul flights begins to escalate.

According to German aviation publication Aero Telegraph, Lufthansa is planning to run validation flights on the service concept beginning this month. The union was meant to be involved, but with the two sides at loggerheads over staffing levels, flight attendants’ representatives have now pulled their support for the test flights.

The main issue is Lufthansa’s plan to cut at least one member of cabin crew from flights that have new First Class cabins installed.

Until now, Lufthansa had two flight attendants dedicated to working in First Class, but its new Allegris First Class cabins only have room for a maximum of four passengers, so they are reducing the staffing level to just one flight attendant.

The union, already angry that the staffing level is being reduced in First Class, is now becoming increasingly enraged with Lufthansa’s plans to add more service elements with fewer crew onboard.

In an internal letter, the union told its members that Lufthansa management is “resistant to advice” and that “we have reached a point where it will not go on like this.”

Lufthansa is not, however, pumping the brakes on Project FOX. While union representatives refuse to take part in the validation flights, these tests will still go ahead, and some cabin crew will be on board to provide feedback.

The airline says this feedback will be used to potentially adapt some ideas, but Project FOX will still be introduced next year.

Project FOX is part of a wider transformation program known as Allegris. While Project FOX is all about onboard service, or the so-called ‘soft product,’ Allegris is the ‘hard product,’ which most people would just call the seats.

Allegris, however, has been beset with problems, and the entire project faced years of expensive delays. Even when it finally started to roll out, there were still major issues that needed to be fixed:

• The Allegris First Class seat faced certification woes, and when Lufthansa started flying its first Allegris-equipped Airbus A350, there was an empty space at the very front of the plane where the First Class cabin was meant to be installed.
• Some Allegris Economy Class seats on the Airbus A350 also had to be blocked out from passenger use due to certification issues with seatbelt airbags installed on seven seats immediately behind Premium Economy.
• Lufthansa plans to install Allegris seats on its Boeing 747 jumbo jets, but the upper deck won’t be immediately refitted with the new Business Class cabin because the Allegris seats don’t fit in the tighter floor space.
• The airline also intends to refit its fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbos in the coming years, but an off-the-shelf Business Class seat will be installed on these planes.
• Lufthansa is starting to take delivery of Boeing 787 Dreamliners with the Allegris Business Class cabin, but these seats will go unoccupied until the airline secures certification from the Federal Aviation Administration – this isn’t expected until the end of 2025 at the earliest.