Are most of the Condor FOs who are on the Lufthansa contract likely to jump over to LH before any sale? If not, will their jobs at LH be preserved (can they transfer over)?
There are no individual rights in the work contract that allows the pilots to transfer to mainline, but rather a colletive agreement between the union (VC) and Lufthansa. This states that after a certain period (six years for captains and four years for copilots) one can bid for a transfer. This has not yet been modified. There was a contract modification about what happens when Condor is taken over by a direct competitor (Air Berlin), but it has not been activated. Lufthansa will however do everything possible to take back its pilots, otherwise fearing that these special deals with the union about certain fleets will no longer be possible in the future. Who will go to another company "on behalf of Lufthansa" when the chance to return is in doubt? On the other hand Condor will not be interested in having two groups of employees one of which earns a lot more money than the other.
Why would a cadet wish to start at Condor or Cityline if an option to start off on the A320/737 awaits at LH? What does Condor offer that LH does not offer besides more trips to Palma and other sunny destinations? Why fly a CRJ at Cityline if you could start at LH instead?
Those from the Lufthansa owned flight school are most likely to join Lufthansa mainline 737/320 from the start. One advantage of Condor has been in the past that they had basings in many different cities throughout Germany, while at mainline only Frankfurt openings were available.
Cargo/Germanwings accept older ready entry pilots than mainline, but they were the way into the seniority list for experienced pilots. Also Germanwings was hiring in 2003 when the rest of the group were not, time in the hold pool was a mere weeks where to join mainline students had to wait 18-24 months after graduating from the Lufthansa Pilot School. This was quite popular around 2003 when they had signifiant growth. Students were often left in the dark as to the disadvantages of Condor contracts (retirement age 60, less pay between 60 and start of retirement payments by the government).
Cityline is not part of the KTV "KonzernTarifVertrag" (Collective Bargaining Contract) that joins the other companies together (mainline, Germanwings and LH Cargo).