Due to a planned all-day strike by the pilots’ union, “Vereinigung Cockpit,” German airline Lufthansa has cancelled 800 passenger and cargo flights on Friday.
According to a statement issued by Lufthansa Group on Thursday, the airline said it will cancel all flights to and from Frankfurt and Munich airports today due to the strike, impacting 130,000 customers. While striving to restore order, Lufthansa warned that “individual cancellations or delays” on Saturday or Sunday were also likely.
The pilots’ Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union announced throughout the course of the night that all flights of Lufthansa’s primary passenger division and its cargo subsidiary, DPA, would be grounded on Friday.
In addition to obligatory inflation adjustments for 2023, VC claims it is asking a 5.5% pay increase this year for its more than 5,000 pilots. However, conversations, according to VC, have broken down.
In response to the coronavirus outbreak, Lufthansa cancelled the contract and started to establish a new airline, circumventing the collective agreement, with worse pay scale conditions.
Matthias Baier, a spokeswoman, said, “We haven’t gotten a sufficient offer today either. This is regrettable and a lost opportunity.
Michael Niggemann, the company’s labour director and chief human resources officer, stated: “We do not get why VC is calling for a strike. Despite the ongoing effects of the Covid crisis and the uncertain future of the global economy, management has presented a very excellent and socially balanced offer. Many thousands of clients are affected by this escalation.”
The Group has reportedly made an offer with an 18-month timeframe in which pilots at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo will get an additional 900 euros in basic pay each month in two stages. Entry-level earnings will particularly benefit from this.
