Travel News: Lufthansa pilot strike affects 215,000 passengers
Wednesday, 23 Nov 2016
Lufthansa pilots began a 48-hour industrial action today in an ongoing dispute regarding pay. The strike was initially due to last 24-hours but was extended to 48-hours when two courts rejected attempts from Lufthansa to halt the industrial action.
The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots’ union are demanding an annual pay rise of 3.7% for 5,400 German pilots over a 5-year period from 2012. Lufthansa have offered a 2.5% spread over 6 years to 2019.
The airline has cancelled 876 of 300 flights today and 912 flights on Thursday. The strike, which is the 14th in the dispute since early 2014, will affect 215,000 passengers and is expected to cost between 7 and 8 million euros a day says Lufthansa’s CEO.
Flights for Lufthansa’s other airlines – Germanwings, Eurowings, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines will not be affected.
In a bid to aid affected customers, Austrian Airlines and SWISS will use larger planes. Lufthansa has also reserved almost 4,000 hotel rooms in Frankfurt and Munich for stranded passengers.
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