Aircraft pilots who work for Lufthansa – and also with Lufthansa Cargo and subsidiary Eurowings – were still out on a two-day strike when the company's cabin crew union announced another strike to follow, on Wednesday and Thursday this week.
As a result, Lufthansa flights to and from Germany are set to remain severely disrupted through at least the end of Thursday.
Beyond the strikes there are strikes
If you've been following coverage of the workers' strikes at Lufthansa this year, you might begin to feel as if you're listening to a broken record. One and two-day warning strikes have affected Lufthansa Group airlines repeatedly since February.
This is partially explained by the fact that there are two different workers' unions involved – the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots' union and the UFO cabin crew union. Both of which are putting pressure on Lufthansa to gain concessions as working agreements and conditions are negotiated.
Where are passengers facing disruption?
As of Tuesday, the latest two-day pilot strike was ongoing and had caused hundreds of flight cancellations to and from German airports.
The coming two-day cabin crew strike is set to be affect "all Lufthansa group departures from Frankfurt and Munich airports" for the whole of Wednesday and Thursday, according to the UFO union.
The two airports are the major hubs for the German airline.
Departures from Lufthansa's Cityline subsidiaries at seven further airports are also part of the cabin crew strike call. Based on the impacts of the previous cabin crew strike that took place last week on Friday, those airports would be: Hamburg, Bremen, Stuttgart, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Berlin and Hanover.
700 cancelled flights on Monday
On Monday, half of all long-distance flights and two-thirds of short-haul services were cancelled at Lufthansa, the group's main airline, Lufthansa confirmed to AFP.
The VC pilots' union said Monday afternoon that over 700 flights had been cancelled.
Passengers should know:
Passengers are advised to check the status of their flights with their airline before heading to the airport.
A note on the Frankfurt airport website reads: "There will be delays and flight cancellations at Frankfurt Airport all day on April 15th and 16th...We ask affected passengers to check the flight status on the Lufthansa website... before arriving at the airport and to use the online rebooking options."
In most cases Lufthansa airlines try to contact affected travellers in advance, but last minute delays and cancellations are possible.
Depending on the destination, Lufthansa may offer affected passengers alternative transport, including by train for domestic routes.
According to EU laws, airlines are generally required to arrange alternative transport and to cover traveller's additional incurred costs (such as for hotels and food and drinks) when long-term disruptions occur.
READ ALSO: What are your rights in Germany if your flight is delayed or cancelled?
The dispute
Lufthansa described Monday's strike call "distressing", saying it showed that the cabin crew union's members are "completely indifferent to the fate of our passengers and the future of Lufthansa".
The UFO union's top negotiator, Harry Jaeger, said that the strike on Friday has already demonstrated "how determined [airline staff] are to stand up for their working conditions".
UFO contends that there has not been enough progress made on issues such as "avoiding overwork" and lengthening redundancy notice periods.
Similarly, representatives of the pilots' union suggest Lufthansa has not made a suitable offer.
The VC union's president, Andreas Pinheiro, said the airline had "shown no tangible willingness to find a solution during several rounds of negotiations".
"Although we deliberately refrained from any strike action during the Easter holidays, no serious proposal was made," he added.
With reporting by AFP.
Comments