Airbus Pays Staff a €1,500 Bonus Due to Energy Crisis and Inflation

Paris — European aviation group Airbus is paying its employees a special bonus because of soaring inflation and the energy crisis, in a move that trade unions have praised as exemplary. Staff in Germany, France and Spain are to receive a one-off payment of €1,500 ($1,490), an Airbus spokesman confirmed on Tuesday, in line with an internal letter to staff published by dpa and dpa-AFX news agencies.

Meanwhile staff in Britain are due to receive £1,500 ($1,710) per person. Staff in other countries are also to be given a special payment. The 120,000 staff members are to receive the money with the next instalment of their wages. Germany's IG Metall trade union praised the move.

"Airbus is setting a good example," said Daniel Friedrich, a union district manager.

He said while the one-off payment would help staff offset prices that are rising steeply, such assistance is not sufficient. He called for longer-term increases across the board for workers in the metal and electrical industries.

He pointed to Germany's IG BCE trade union, which had managed to negotiate two tax-free special payments of €1,500 each for workers in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, alongside permanent wage increases of 3.25% in two stages. He said the government had enabled the option of one-off tax-free payments of up to €3,000 in the fight against inflation.

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