FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Lufthansa's savings program will not have the positive effect on earnings this year that Germany's leading airline had hoped for, Chief Executive Christoph Franz said in a newsletter to employees on Friday.
Franz said Lufthansa would be able to achieve its 2012 savings goals under the so-called SCORE program but the impact would be blunted by negative factors such as high jet fuel prices and the euro zone debt crisis.
"Due to the headwinds we face, the progress we have made is not visibly reflected, as we had hoped, in our financial result," Franz said.
SCORE was introduced in March 2012 with the aim of boosting operating profit by 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in 2015.
($1 = 0.7775 euros)
(Reporting By Marilyn Gerlach)
