“Above all, we must not allow ourselves to get into too much debt. This would cripple the firm for years to come,” Spohr said during a general meeting of the airline in Frankfurt on Tuesday.

The business must plan now for how to repay any state investment due to the coronavirus crisis, he said. Politicians need to be wary of any financial help that could be regarded as anti-competitive by foreign governments, he added.

The firm needs state support, “but we do not need any state management,” Spohr said.

Lufthansa is facing perhaps its biggest financial crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, with state aid under negotiation that is said to amount to about 10 billion euros (10.9 billion dollars).

In the ongoing talks on how to save the carrier, which has grounded most of its planes, Lufthansa is resisting suggestions that the German state should take a stake in the firm, along with seats on the supervisory board.

Lufthansa is aiming for the state to be a sleeping partner, meaning its role in the firm would be limited.

Lufthansa and two unions in the aviation sector last week appealed to the federal government to help Europe’s largest airline in the face of passenger numbers which have collapsed due to worldwide travel restrictions.