* Lufthansa to require two people in cockpit at all times
* Reversal of earlier comments by CEO
* EU agency issues recommendation for European airlines
* Lufthansa creates new group safety pilot role (Adds details on safety pilots, other airlines changing rules,union comment)
BERLIN, March 27 (Reuters) - Lufthansa said onFriday it would introduce new rules requiring two crew membersin cockpits at all times, a swift reversal after its CEO saidsuch a change was not needed despite the crash at itsGermanwings subsidiary.
The European Union said it would now advise all EU airlinesto require two crew members on the flight deck, effectivelyensuring that a rule which is already mandatory in the UnitedStates will now become the standard in Europe as well.
Prosecutors believe Andreas Lubitz, 27, locked himself alonein the cockpit of the Airbus A320 on Tuesday and deliberatelysteered it into a mountain, killing all 150 people on board.
Within hours of prosecutors disclosing that scenario,several airlines announced immediate changes to their policiesto ensure pilots were never left alone in the cockpit.
Lufthansa's CEO Carsten Spohr initially said he saw no needfor such a change, remarks that drew derision on social media,with passengers saying they would not fly. Within a day thecompany reversed itself.
"The passenger airlines of the Lufthansa Group will put thisnew rule into place as soon as possible in agreement with therelevant authorities," Lufthansa said in a statement on Friday.
The Lufthansa Group also includes Germanwings, AustrianAirlines, Swiss and Eurowings.
Crisis communication specialists told Reuters it had been amistake for Spohr to dismiss the changes so swiftly andcategorically.
"It would have been better to say, 'We'll investigate it',"crisis communications consultant and former Virgin Atlanticdirector Paul Charles told Reuters.
STANDARD IN EUROPE
Under rules already practiced in the United States, whenevereither the pilot or co-pilot steps out of the cockpit, a secondmember of the crew such as a flight attendant is required toenter. A rogue pilot determined to lock the door and set adeadly course would first have to overpower a colleague.
That will now become the effective standard across theEuropean Union after the EU aviation regulator recommended allEuropean airlines adopt it.
While such a recommendation is not technically mandatory, anairline could be challenged in national courts if it ignores it,an EU official said. Making the recommendation is faster thanthe process for drawing up new mandatory regulations.
All German airlines have now agreed to the change. Germanpilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit, which had also initially saidit would be better to wait for the full crash report beforemaking any changes, welcomed the decision.
Lufthansa also said it was creating a new role of groupsafety pilot, putting Werner Hass, the man previously in chargeof safety only at flagship brand Lufthansa, in charge of safetyat all four airlines owned by the group. (Reporting by Victoria Bryan, Tim Hepher; Additional reportingby Alastair McDonald and Francesco Guarascio; Editing byCaroline Copley, Susand Fenton and Peter Graff)
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