Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo departures at German airports are affected
800 flights cancelled Friday 2 September
Massive impact on flight operations in the middle of return season at the end of summer holidays in Germany and other European countries
Eurowings and Eurowings Discover flights not affected
Frankfurt: Lufthansa Group on Thursday (Sept 1) said, “the strike announced by the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) for Friday 2 September in the period from 00:01 to 23:59 hrs. (Central European Summer Time; GMT +2 hrs) will have a massive impact on flight operations – in the middle of the main return travel period at the end of the school holidays in Germany and other European countries. Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo departures at German airports are affected.”
Lufthansa cancels 800 flights at its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich for Friday (Sept 2). An estimated 130,000 passengers will be affected, in view of the upcoming weekend, the end of the holidays in some parts of Europe. Nevertheless, the effects of the strike may still lead to individual flight cancellations or delays this Saturday and Sunday.
“Eurowings and Eurowings Discover are not affected by the strike call and are scheduled to operate as planned. Passengers affected by cancellations will be informed immediately and rebooked on alternative flights if possible.”
Michael Niggemann, Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director of Deutsche Lufthansa AG: “We cannot understand VC’s call for a strike. The management has made a very good and socially balanced offer – despite the continuing burdens of the Covid crisis and uncertain prospects for the global economy. This escalation comes at the expense of many thousands of customers.” Specifically, the Group has presented an offer with an 18-month term, in which pilots at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo will receive a total of 900 euros more in basic pay per month in two stages. This will benefit entry-level salaries in particular. An entry-level co-pilot will receive more than 18 per cent additional basic pay over the duration of the agreement, while a captain in the final stage will receive five per cent. With the agreement for the ground staff, the Group has shown that it is prepared to make significant pay increases.
As an alternative, VC has been offered the option of allocating all or part of this volume elsewhere, for example for structural changes such as adjustments to the pay scale. In addition, the Group is offering VC the opportunity to jointly conclude a new Perspective Agreement (German: ‘Perspektivvereinbarung’ / PPV), in which Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo cockpit staff a minimum fleet size.
