Lufthansa has had to cancel hundreds of flights amid ongoing labor unrest among pilots and flight attendants at Germany’s national airline.
The pilots’ union, called Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), has organized a 48-hour strike starting Monday, affecting not only the Lufthansa brand but also the airline’s cargo division and even its regional airline called CityLine. Eurowings pilots do not strike until Monday.
At Frankfurt International Airport, Germany’s busiest, 570 takeoffs and landings were cancelled, most of which belonged to Lufthansa. This affected more than 50,000 passengers.
Lufthansa reported that two-thirds of its short- and medium-haul flights and half of its long-haul flights were grounded. Eurowings, another Lufthansa subsidiary, flew just under 60% of its planned routes.
The strike is due to a disagreement over the company’s pension plan, where VC demands from Lufthansa a contribution increase of more than 100%. The airline called the request “absurd and unfulfillable.”
As an additional aggravation, the UFO cabin crew union began a two-day strike starting Wednesday, so Lufthansa faces four consecutive days of strike.
However, according to the airline, flights to the Middle East will not be affected due to the ongoing conflicts in Iran.
Lufthansa recommended exchanging tickets for train vouchers to minimize inconvenience to passengers, while criticizing the unnecessary strike. Union representatives, however, cited management’s reluctance to enter into negotiations as a cause for the strike.
This strike is the fourth this year involving Lufthansa pilots.
