All LH customer contact employees (in Germany at least) must be fluent in German (it is a German airline) and English. And of course the necessary work and residency permits. That 50% model is already in use by some flight attendants with older contracts. It's only now that they're using it for new hires. I guess to give the company a little wiggle room in controlling payroll costs. Actually its not a bad proposition especially for young people, perhaps fresh out of school. During the six months off-line, they'll still have travel benefits, an advantage with all that free time on their hands. Downside is the basic (very basic) salary without the per diems and allowances one normally receives when flying on duty