Eurowings (EW, Düsseldorf) has launched negotiations with labour unions regarding the consolidation of its various Air Operator's Certificates (AOC), CEO Thorsten Dirks told Air Transport World.

Dirks underlined that while the complex mix of AOCs in Germany and Austria was an effective platform to grow the low-cost subsidiary of Lufthansa Group, it would now rather consolidate them into a single certificate.

Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), a powerful pilots' union, has welcomed the plan in principle.

Besides the main Eurowings AOC, the group also includes sister carrier germanwings (4U, Cologne/Bonn) and subsidiary Eurowings Europe (Austria) (E2, Vienna). The two latter airlines operate thirty-five A319-100s and twenty-four A320-200s on behalf of Eurowings in total.

Eurowings also wet-leases seventeen Dash 8-400s from LGW - Luftfahrtgesellschaft Walter (Dortmund), which used to be a Lufthansa Group subsidiary until the acquisition by Zeitfracht earlier this year. The carrier further wet-leases seven A330-200s from SunExpress Deutschland (itself a subsidiary of SunExpress, a joint venture of Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines), two A330-300s and two A340-300s from another group member Brussels Airlines, seven B737-800s from TUI fly (Germany), and five A319s from CSA Czech Airlines.

The consolidation, besides germanwings and Eurowings Europe, could also at least partially affect Brussels Airlines.