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#1 Lufthansa Frankfurt, and the Lufthansa Group question that gets asked most after Eurowings is Discover, the leisure long haul airline that used to be Eurowings Discover. Here is what it is and how it compares, from someone at the mainline who has friends across.
What Discover is
The Lufthansa Group's leisure airline out of Frankfurt and Munich, flying A330s and A320s to the holiday long haul (the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, Florida, East Africa, the Canaries) and some Mediterranean. It sits in the group next to Condor's territory and competes directly with it. It is a few years old and has grown fast.
The contract
A separate contract from the mainline, negotiated separately, with pay that sits below the Lufthansa mainline collective agreement and closer to the Eurowings level, with long haul allowances on top. A German employment contract with the German protections. The union situation has evolved as the airline has grown; ask the current position.
The flying
Leisure long haul from Frankfurt and Munich: a Caribbean pattern with a layover, a Mauritius or Zanzibar trip, a Florida turn with a night stop. Plus the A320 Mediterranean flying in summer. The crew are a mix of new joiners and experienced crew from Condor and elsewhere. The layovers are the resort ones and the traps are the resort ones, exactly as the Condor and TUI crew describe on the layover threads.
Versus the mainline
Mainline: the full network, the higher pay scale, the long seniority list, the slower promotion, the prestige. Discover: the leisure network, the lower pay, the short seniority list, the faster promotion, the newer crew group. Mainline crew do not move to Discover; Discover crew hope to move to the mainline and the path is not formal.
Versus Condor
Very similar flying, similar pay, different owner. Condor is the established leisure long haul carrier with the union history; Discover is the group's newer version. Crew choose on base (Condor is Frankfurt heavy, Discover has Munich too), on the contract of the year, and on which one is hiring when they apply.
Who it suits
Someone who wants leisure long haul from Germany, does not need the mainline name, wants faster promotion on a shorter list, and is realistic about the pay. Someone who would rather do Mauritius on a lower scale than Frankfurt to Hamburg on a higher one.
Who should hold out for the mainline
Someone who wants the network, the collective agreement and the long career ladder, and who can wait for the mainline hiring wave.
The group has four cabin crew employers now (mainline, Eurowings, Discover, CityLine) and each is a different job. Apply to the one whose Tuesday you want.
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#2 Condor, and Hannah is fair to us and to Discover. The flying is nearly identical. The difference is the owner, the union history and which one is hiring the month you apply. Crew move between us in both directions.
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#3 Eurowings, and the group having four cabin crew employers confuses every applicant. This is the clearest summary I have read. Apply to the airline, not the group. Again.
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#4 Hamburg, and Discover was not on my list because I did not know what it was. Now it is. The Munich base point matters for me.
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#5 @jasmin2001 Munich Discover is smaller than Frankfurt but growing. Worth an application alongside the others.
