Pilots at Lufthansa are about to strike for 24 hours, after negotiations failed during last-ditch pay talks on Wednesday. The strike is set to start at midnight (CEST) on 2nd September and continue throughout the whole of Friday until 11:59 pm.
The industrial action has broad support among pilots. The vast majority (almost 98 per cent) of pilots represented by the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union voted in favour of strike action after lengthy negotiations.
Matthias Baier, a VC spokesperson said:
“We have not received a sufficient offer today (Wednesday 31st August) either. This is sobering and a missed opportunity. The negotiations have failed.”
A one-day strike by the airlines’ ground workers in July led to Lufthansa cancelling almost its whole flight schedule from its Frankfurt and Munich hubs. At least 1,000 flights were grounded with over 134,000 passengers stranded.
“We hope to get back to negotiations as soon as possible,” a Lufthansa spokesperson said on Thursday 31st August. “However, we cannot bear the cost increases associated with VC’s demands either,” he added.
The strike will have a knock-on effect into the weekend because aircraft and pilots will be out of position. Cancellations are likely to affect over 130,000 passengers over the course of the weekend.
Bottom line
If you have a booking with Lufthansa over the next few days do make sure to check your flight details – don’t assume that your flight will be fine just because it’s not on the actual strike day.
