German Air Travel Chaos Looms: Pilots at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Eurowings to Walk Out
Lufthansa pilots will launch a two-day strike next week, threatening major disruption to air traffic across Germany. The walkout is planned for Monday and Tuesday and will affect Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Cityline and Eurowings.
According to the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (Cockpit Union), the work stoppage will begin at 12:01 a.m. on Monday and run until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday. The union said it is acting after repeated collective bargaining talks with the airline failed to produce a breakthrough on key issues.
The Cockpit Union accused Lufthansa management of showing “no discernible willingness to reach a solution” in several wage and working-condition disputes. Union representatives said they had deliberately refrained from striking over the Easter holidays to give negotiations a chance, but received no serious offer and no real sign of engagement from the company.
This latest escalation comes just one day after Lufthansa’s cabin crew staged a separate strike. That action, called by the UFO trade union, began late Friday evening and involved staff at both Lufthansa and its regional subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline, delaying thousands of passengers nationwide.
Germany’s flagship carrier preemptively canceled hundreds of flights to limit the impact of the cabin crew walkout. Disruptions hit major hubs in Munich and Frankfurt, as well as airports such as Leipzig/Halle, Berlin and Stuttgart. In Frankfurt alone, nearly 75% of about 350 planned Lufthansa departures were canceled.
The tensions follow earlier strikes in February, when pilots and flight attendants grounded large parts of Lufthansa’s operation for a day. At that time, the airline said nearly 800 flights had to be canceled, affecting around 100,000 passengers. The new two-day pilot strike raises fears of similar or even greater chaos for travelers in the coming week.