British Travellers Face a Week of Cancellations as Lufthansa Celebrates Its 100th Birthday With Crews and Pilots On Strike

Two Lufthansa unions representing both pilots and cabin crews have been on strike for five straight days or six in the past eight days.

The pilots union went on strike from the 13th to the 14th after being on strike from 12th-13th. Then, the flight attendants union is on strike from the 15-16, after going on strike on the 10th. Now, pilots are back on strike on the 16-17 at 11:59 pm local time, the latest round of action calls for arbitration to resolve the pension dispute.

Lufthansa's Response to the Strikes

In response to the latest strike plans, Lufthansa board member Michael Niggemann criticised the union, saying it is 'completely indifferent to the fate of our passengers and the future of Lufthansa.'

The day-long strike grounded flights across hub airports for Lufthansa, Frankfurt and Munich, with The Independent reporting approximately 580 Frankfurt flight cancellations, affecting as many as 72,000 travelers.

'Lufthansa is working intensively to keep the impact on passengers as low as possible. We are trying to have as many flights as possible operated by other airlines within the Lufthansa Group and by partner airlines,' the airline said. 'However, despite these efforts, flight cancellations are unavoidable.'

'No Movement on the Part of the Employers'

'There is absolutely no movement on the part of the employers,' said Andreas Pinheiro, President of Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) in a statement. 'Neither Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo have made an offer regarding company pension schemes, nor has Lufthansa CityLine made a viable offer for a new collective bargaining agreement on remuneration, nor has Eurowings made any offer regarding company pension schemes.'

'We are not concerned with power struggles or egoism, but with sustainable solutions,' the VC president said. 'Should the employers accept the mediation proposal, the Cockpit Association will promptly submit suggestions for a suitable mediator. per a press release from VC.'

A bargaining expert for the flight attendant union claims that 'we are dealing here with an employer who has adopted a hardline position while constantly proclaiming their readiness to negotiate at any time,' per a report from travel news site; One Mile At a Time.

'To this day, management consistently refuses to even enter into negotiations with us regarding our demands for a collectively agreed social plan, to address our demands, or even to submit a negotiable offer for such a plan,' the union said.

Is the Entire Lufthansa Group Affected by These Strikes?

Eurowings said in a statement that flights departing from German airports on the 16 April would be affected by the VC strike but the airline still expected to 'operate a large proportion' of its flight schedule.

However, Lufthansa City Airlines, a subsidiary of Lufthansa celebrated the successful negotiations of its inaugural labor agreement with rival union Verdi covering 500 pilots and cabin crew staff.

The new deal includes basic salaries by between 20 per cent and 35 per cent in three stages through March 2029, and includes extra days off, more vacation, improved roster planning and expanded pension support, Verdi said.