Peterborough is going to lose another long-time major employer.
kawarthaNOW has learned that Lufthansa InTouch will be closing its customer service centre in Peterborough by spring of next year, affecting around 400 employees.
Located at 1900 Fisher Drive, the customer service centre is operated by the Lufthansa Group in Germany, which owns and operates Lufthansa Airlines and several other airlines in Europe, as well as other aviation-related companies.
The Peterborough location employs customer service agents, quality assurance specialists, and team managers who provide 24/7 multilingual customer support for flight bookings, reservations, rebooking assistance, and loyalty program services.
After initially reaching out to Orlando Casas, human resources coordinator at Lufthansa InTouch in Peterborough, kawarthaNOW later received a statement from Tal Muscal, Lufthansa Group’s director of group communications for The Americas, confirming the closure.
“Lufthansa InTouch (LIT) has made the difficult decision to gradually close its location in Peterborough, Ontario (Canada) by 31 May 2026 as part of ongoing business transformation efforts,” the statement reads.
“The customer service industry operates in a volatile, highly competitive environment, and the decline in customer service volume at Lufthansa InTouch requires decisive action. Increasing automation, advanced self-service technologies, and improved operational performance at Lufthansa Group airlines are the reasons for ensuring long-term profitability and sustainably adapting operations within LIT’s global network.”
Traditional centralized call centres are in decline worldwide, particularly for phone-based customer service roles that are being supplanted by increased automation, including AI-powered chatbots and digital self-service options, and by decentralized human labour that can work virtually.
Muscal’s statement notes that Lufthansa InTouch will be providing support to the employees at the Peterborough location.
“LIT greatly appreciates the commitment and professionalism of the team in Peterborough, whose service has contributed significantly to customer satisfaction among Lufthansa Group airlines and is committed to supporting the affected employees during this transition phase, including through fair severance payments, an employee assistance program, and professional support in finding new jobs.”
Through its eight customer service centres around the world, Lufthansa InTouch employs 3,000 people from more than 38 nationalities, speaking 30 languages and servicing 118 markets.
The Peterborough location is the only Lufthansa InTouch customer service centre in North America, with other centres located in Germany, Czech Republic, Serbia, South Africa, Namibia, Philippines, and Turkey.
Lufthansa InTouch opened its customer service centre in Peterborough in 2003.
The news of Lufthansa InTouch’s closure of its Peterborough location comes less than a month after Siemens Canada announced it is moving its Peterborough manufacturing operations to Concord, affecting around 160 jobs, over the next two years.
With files from Bruce Head.
