Frankfurt — The German pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) has accused Lufthansa of making a strategic mistake by transferring its traditional flight school in Goodyear in the US state of Arizona to United Airlines.
In a statement on Tuesday, VC President Stefan Herth described it as "absolutely incomprehensible" that Lufthansa is not continuing to run the site itself.
He said that the restructuring of pilot training made no sense either economically or in terms of the labour market as there will be a great need for new pilots in the coming years.
The MDax-listed group has also turned around its pilot training at its European locations and in November handed over the school in Goodyear to the Star Alliance partner United, which will also continue to teach Lufthansa flight students.
The VC sees the new training plan as a departure from Lufthansa's previous promise of quality.
Since 1955, prospective Lufthansa pilots had completed their first practical training in the desert climate of Goodyear.
Future student pilots are to receive job offers from various airlines within the Lufthansa Group only after they have completed their training.
Until now, there had been courses whose hand-picked participants could be almost certain to fly later with Lufthansa's core company at lucrative pay conditions.
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