Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr said on Thursday he wants to avoid job losses at the German airline by persuading unions to agree to cutting working time and salaries for all employees.

"One idea is rather than a fifth of employees having to leave, that everyone works a fifth less, for example, and earns a fifth less. For me, that would be a much more social responsible way than forced layoffs," he told Bild newspaper.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; editing by Thomas Seythal)