Lufthansa strike causes flight cancellations

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Starting 5:00 early tomorrow morning, Lufthansa personnel will go on strike. All Lufthansa flights travelling to destinations within Europe set to depart during the strike have been cancelled. Union Verdi has announced the strike and is calling for a pay rise for 33,000 Lufthansa employees.

Flights cancelled

The union has announced that all staff will refuse to work for a duration of seven hours. Starting at 5:00 at night and ending at noon, the strike will force Lufthansa to cancel all flights in Germany, as well as flights going to other European destinations. A total of 500 flights will be cancelled, affecting an estimated 50,000 passengers. Flights leaving from Frankfurt, Munich and Düsseldorf to a destination outside of Europe will be operated as usual, where possible.

Previous strikes

German airports have been plagued by a slew of strikes lately. Security staff has gone on several strikes in the past weeks. But Germany isn't the only country facing strikes – air personnel in Spain has also gone on strikes in the past month. Proposed cutbacks have forced Iberia employees to go on strike for a duration of five days twice.

Lufthansa's air staff is demanding a pay rise of 5.2 percent and greater dismissal rights. The union will resume negotiations with Lufthansa this Friday.

Written by: Team Flight Delayed