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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 2638.PDF
from 161 aircraft to 201. The most spectacular growth will come with 34 Boe ing 737-500 deliveries next year, and five more in 1992. The 747-400 fleet will go from zero to 18 and Airbus A320s will more than double in number to 31. There are more modest — but significant — increases in the 737-300, A310 and A300-600 fleet. The last of the remaining 13 727s will have been sold by the end of 1990; 747- 200s will drop from 16 to 14; and 737-200s from 38 to 18. This will go a long way towards achieving one of Lufthansa's main aims: a fleet completely compliant with Chapter 3 noise limits — vital because Germany has one of the most politically influential environmental lobbies in Europe. So unusually fast is the acquisition rate, the carrier has been forced to depart from traditional financial practices to achieve it; Lufthansa has issued floating-rate notes which were well received on the market; it has sold and leased-back three DC-10s and four of its 747 freighters; and has decided for the first time in its history to lease-in a proportion of the new acquisitions. Amid this frenetic activity, Lufthansa must also fit tnterflug into its future plans. As the two Germanys reunite, Lufthansa has inevitably begun to forge links with the German Democratic Republic (GDR) flag- carrier — not knowing exactly where the links will lead. The links are conditional, admits Lufthansa's Dr Klaus Nittinger, vice- president of fleet, advanced projects and aircraft type management. "The most im portant point of all is to see how the Interflug people can adapt," he says. Wolfgang Pfeifer, Lufthansa deputy vice- president corporate strategy, will not rule out the possibility of a GDR version of the post-war German economic miracle. "In five Inter/lug ordered its three A310-300s in 1988 Lufthansa will have disposed of all of its 727s by December years, after serious unemployment, East Germany will probably need thousands of guest workers to pick up all the work," he explains with hope, but no certainty. LACKING KNOWLEDGE Discussion among West Germans about the East German workforce centres on "evi dence that they are still Germans"; that their school education was basically the same even if, as adults, they have no knowledge or experience of market forces and the pressures which come with them. All West Germans admit that the answers are unknown. Some problems are obvious: "Interflug is so heavily overstaffed • you cannot imagine," Pfeifer says, hands and eyebrows signalling his disbelief. Working one way or another with Inter flug is inevitable. The reasons depend upon the viewpoint: the patriot cites German unity and the economic recovery of the former GDR; the entrepreneur sees a route into the new East European market, with the Interflug infrastructure to be destroyed once the goal has been achieved. No-one at Lufthansa voices the latter view, frequently aired by the West German press. Lufthansa's close practical contact with Interflug began in 1988 when East Germany became the first Eastern European nation to buy Western widebody twins. That Interflug chose Airbus A310s was no accident: Lufthansa already had them, and it made sense for the West German company to maintain Interflug's A310s while the GDR was under COCOM export restrictions, and while the eastern airline brought its engi neering capabilities up to scratch. Lufthansa also invested in an A310 simulator training unit for Interflug. GERMAN REUNIFICATION In 1988 German reunification was not even on the horizon. When the original A310 decision was being discussed, German unity was not foreseen: the decision was made purely on Interflug's need for new technol ogy, and the logic of linguistic, geographical and technological links with Lufthansa. As the inevitablity of German unity emerged, Lufthansa saw that it needed a serious influence in the GDR carrier with out risking shareholders' money unduly; it decided on a 26% share in Interflug's air transport department (leaving out the enormous agricultural and general-aviation department). That percentage is the minimum which, under German law, confers a boardroom veto, and it is no accident that Lufthansa chose not to seek a larger stake. Interflug FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 5-11 September 1990
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