Travel News: Lufthansa pilot strike affects 215,000 passengers

Wednesday, 23 Nov 2016

Lufthansa pilots began a 48-hour industrial action today in an ongoing dispute regarding pay. The strike was initially due to last 24-hours but was extended to 48-hours when two courts rejected attempts from Lufthansa to halt the industrial action.

The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots’ union are demanding an annual pay rise of 3.7% for 5,400 German pilots over a 5-year period from 2012. Lufthansa have offered a 2.5% spread over 6 years to 2019.

The airline has cancelled 876 of 300 flights today and 912 flights on Thursday. The strike, which is the 14^th in the dispute since early 2014, will affect 215,000 passengers and is expected to cost between 7 and 8 million euros a day says Lufthansa’s CEO.

Flights for Lufthansa’s other airlines – Germanwings, Eurowings, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines will not be affected.

In a bid to aid affected customers, Austrian Airlines and SWISS will use larger planes. Lufthansa has also reserved almost 4,000 hotel rooms in Frankfurt and Munich for stranded passengers.

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