Lufthansa is optimistic that its rescue negotiations will be completed early, the board of the airline told workers in a letter read by Reuters, adding that it is still exploring alternatives including creditor security.
Travel bans compelled the German business to ground 700 of its planes, resulting in a 99 per cent decline in passenger traffic and causing the company, which includes Swiss and Austrian Airlines, to lose aro und €1 million ($1.1 million) in liquidity reserves per hour.
According to a report in the weekly Der Spiegel, the company, which claims it is losing cash and may have to declare insolvency, had appeared to be stuck in its bid for up to EUR 10 billion ($11 billion) in funding.
Yet the airline said it had conducted "intense and positive discussions" with the German government on financial assistance in a letter seen by Agence France-Presse to the workers regarding the relief assistance.
Like other carriers around the globe, Lufthansa and its affiliates, which include Swiss and Austrian Airlines, are effectively grounded and face an unknown future until their services are fully operational again.
In March, Lufthansa announced its group revenues had plummeted by nearly 50 percent or 1.4 billion euros from the same period a year ago.
Chief Executive Carsten Spohr said in April that the airline was transporting less than 3,000 passengers a day compared to a pre-pandemic level of around 350,000 a day.
The German government is holding out for a share of just over a quarter in the company in exchange for financial assistance, according to Der Spiegel, which would place Berlin in a position to stop Lufthansa management's strategic choices.
The Social Democratic Party, whose members include Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, has warned Lufthansa that it can not demand a blank check from Berlin.
However, Lufthansa directors have cautioned that they will declare insolvency without such help to benefit from a grace period during which the carrier will seek to work out the finances of the company.
That may mean job losses, particularly because Spohr has stated there are already 10,000 too many employees due to the state of operations at Lufthansa.
Faced with a significant revenue loss due to the worldwide grounding of much of its aircraft, the airline is locked in multi-state rescue negotiations with the German, Swiss, Austrian and Belgian governments. Lufthansa operates so-called flag carriers in all four countries, warning that if it cannot reach an agreement, it will run low on cash in weeks.
