Lufthansa has accepted the mediation recommendations of Gunter Pleuger, ending a dispute with pilots at the flag-carrier that has spanned five years.

The deal will see Lufthansa increase cockpit remuneration by around €85 million annually.

The money will see pay increase for some 5,400 pilots at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings in four stages, amounting to a total of around 8.7 per cent.

“We welcome Gunter Pleuger’s mediation recommendation and would like to thank him for his commitment and support in finding a solution,” said Bettina Volkens, chief human resources officer at Deutsche Lufthansa.

“However, implementing the mediation recommendation will generate additional cockpit remuneration costs, even though we started with the aim of lowering costs in the cockpit of Lufthansa and thus being able to grow again.

“Without any compensation in other collective agreements, we must, therefore, take the path of changing our fleet planning.

“At the same time, we are continuing to work hard to find ways to reduce costs with our collective bargaining partner in order to achieve our growth potential in the group tariff agreement, too.”

Lufthansa said additional costs would be compensated by operating 40 aircraft outside the group tariff agreement.

Details on the design of a new platform for the operation of these aircraft will be finalised in the coming weeks.

The job prospects of ground and cabin personnel will not be affected by this step.

Talks with Vereinigung Cockpit on all on-going open tariff-related topics will be continued in order to reach alternative cost reductions within the framework of an overall solution, the airline said.