Hi there,
Italian is not a requirement, but nice to have. However I do not think that anybody cares, because in the past they didn't find enough Italian pilots anyway...
After the strike of Lufthansa pilots this spring, things have now been sorted out. Initially all captains will be be Lufthansa F/Os that are being promoted and based in Milan, until a stable operation with "own" personal can be assured. How long that is nobody knows yet, but there is some more information to come around during the week.
At the moment all crew members (cockpit and cabin) are Lufthansa employees. There are dedicated cabin members, who all speak Italian and are in Milan on a (more or less) regular basis. Cockpit is from Lufthansa in MUC and FRA. Crewmembers are proceeding from their bases in MUC and FRA to MXP, where they are usually staying for three up to five days. Hotel is provided. This of course is gonna change when people are being based there.
Work itself is pretty nice at the moment. Not as much stress as when operating out of the other hubs. Ground staff is mostly well trained and experience how it should be done (compared to Germany) helps to further increase the quality of handling. Administration is partly German, partly Italian, however locals take over work as soon as possible.
Interviews for cabin crew have taken place. Rumour has it that most of the ones that would have been taken (low number of all applicants), did not want to work for the salary they offered. Cockpit salary will be okay, but surely below Lufthansa standards, although it was promised that training and pay will be according to our level. There will be no mixed operation (original LH and LHI crews), so when enough crew members have been trained to operate one aircraft, they will start operating the first aircraft themselves. Question is when that will be, as requirements for captains still have to be announced and then people have to apply and get trained. So I don't expect it to be too soon, maybe somewhen end of the year. Btw, all aircraft are ex Lufthansa and Germanwings, initally starting with A319s (minor differences between the two airlines), while this year one A320 also joined the fleet. Six of these aircraft are for permanent use (all ex Germanwings + one LH) with LHI, having been outfitted with an espresso machine (only airline with business class on domestic Italian services!) and proper titles and all that (they all have been named as well).
Destinations are quite interesting for the Lufthansa pilot, with Olbia, Palermo, Ibizia, Split and Bari not being in our schedules normally. Other cities such as London, Paris, Barcelona and Madrid are well known however. Rumours says that once the AOC is through with the Italian authorities, flights to Moscow and other non-EU destinations will be started (don't know how Casablanca has been fitted into that...). Budapest and Bucharest are already being flown to in Eastern Europe. When flights to Rome still existed, we did have nightstops there as well, but now it is down to CDG, being the only place except MXP where you gonna end your daily trip. Therefore we fly either two or four flights a day. Ground times are normally between 40 and 50 minutes. Not much for our kind of operation, but enough. Last year we had stops in Barcelona with 1,5 hours, which was great for a little breakfast or so, but that was the start-up phase...
All that being said, I can only say that I enjoy flying there very much. Being there regulary I know a lot of the people simply by seeing them so often. If you are in for the Italian mentality, then you will not have that many problems there. I must also say that I see issues arising, when control by the German Lufthansa has gone into Italian hands. I like the guys, but being German you sure have some qualities that others are missing at certain points. We are keeping up the pressure if we don't like things...
It must also be noted that the future of LHI is far from certain. Bookings over the summer have been good, but airlines like easyJet and Alitalia will not give up their market share easily.
Given the entry requirements (which requirements?) you may give it a shot. But be prepared! The test is difficult and only five pilots made it through when they accepted applications in 2008...
You are very welcome to ask an questions about it! I will be ready to answer
