OREANDA-NEWS. February 19, 2015. Germany's Lufthansa is looking at options for simplifying the way it runs its airlines, including the removal of a layer of management and centralising functions such as network planning, currently done by its individual airlines, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

The group is working on the plans with consulting firm McKinsey and aims to implement the changes in the second half of the year, the source said.

Lufthansa, which includes Germanwings, Austrian Airlines and Swiss, is in the midst of restructuring and tough negotiations with staff, part of efforts to cut costs to compete with low-cost carriers and fast-expanding rivals such as Emirates and Turkish Airlines.

The plans were reported earlier on Wednesday by Manager Magazin, which also said Lufthansa was planning to introduce a management board position that covers its Eurowings arm, the regional airline that it is expanding into a new low-cost airline.

The magazine said it was not yet clear how many jobs could be lost as a result of the streamlining.

Lufthansa said it was looking at organisational structures but declined to provide details.