Related News
Pilots’ strike hits 1,800 flights at Lufthansa
Print Edition
LUFTHANSA pilots in Germany began a two-day strike yesterday, grounding some 1,800 flights at one of Europe’s largest airlines in a long-running pay dispute.
The Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ union initially called a 24-hour walkout yesterday, but extended the strike for an extra day after two courts rejected attempts by Lufthansa to halt the industrial action.
Lufthansa, led by Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr, insists that despite a record profit in 2015, it has no choice but to cut costs to compete with leaner rivals such as Ryanair on short-haul and Emirates on long-haul flights.
Lufthansa canceled 876 of roughly 3,000 flights scheduled by its group airlines yesterday, and scrapped 912 flights today, affecting over 215,000 passengers in what is the 14th strike in the dispute since early 2014.
Spohr has said he expects the strike to cost between 7 million euros and 9 million euros (US$7.4 million and US$9.6 million) a day.
The strike started at midnight and affects flights departing from German airports, including 133 long-haul flights.
Flights by Lufthansa’s other airlines, including Germanwings, Eurowings, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines, will not be affected, according to Lufthansa.
Austrian and SWISS are using larger planes to carry passengers, while Lufthansa has reserved almost 4,000 hotel rooms in Frankfurt and Munich for stranded passengers.
Lufthansa has called on the pilots to enter mediation, which has been rejected by their union because it is first seeking a better offer from management as a basis for talks.
The union wants an average annual pay increase of 3.7 percent for 5,400 pilots in Germany over a five-year period from 2012. Lufthansa has offered 2.5 percent spread over six years to 2019.
In its effort to reduce costs, Lufthansa has agreed deals on pay and retirement schemes with the main unions representing ground staff and cabin crew in Germany.
“It is incomprehensible that the union is calling for the biggest pay increase for the most well-paid group of staff,” Lufthansa board member Bettina Volkens said in a statement.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
