Lufthansa pilot pay spat highlights Iberia wage triumph

[FRANKFURT] Deutsche Lufthansa's pay skirmish with its pilots, already among the best paid in Europe, stands in contrast to rival IAG's success in slashing wages - and reaping investors' reward in the process.

While IAG chief executive officer Willie Walsh forced through a 14 per cent pay cut at Spanish unit Iberia, together with similar deals wrung from cabin crew and ground staff, Lufthansa faces demands for a double-digit pay hike, backed up by a strike ballot that's coming to a showdown this week.

The disparity highlights Lufthansa's challenge to deliver on earlier promises of savings and efficiencies at a time when analyst earnings forecasts trail the company's own by more than 20 per cent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.