Why Lufthansa pilots are going on strike tomorrow
What's the story
The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union has called for a two-day strike at Lufthansa, Europe's largest airline group, starting tomorrow. The action is due to a dispute over salaries and pensions. This will be the fifth strike against Lufthansa this year. "The Cockpit union feels compelled to take this step after the employers' side showed no real willingness to reach a solution in several collective bargaining disputes," said VC President Andreas Pinheiro.
Disruption
Strike to disrupt operations of Lufthansa and its subsidiaries
The upcoming strike will disrupt operations of main airline Lufthansa, its subsidiaries CityLine and Eurowings, as well as Lufthansa Cargo. Pilots at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo, and Lufthansa CityLine have been asked to join the strike from April 13 to April 14, while Eurowings pilots have been asked to join the strike on April 13. However, due to the current situation in the Middle East where US-Iran talks have failed, certain flights will not be affected by this action.
Public response
Social media reactions to upcoming strike
The news of the strike has drawn mixed reactions on social media. While some users reported that services were running smoothly but faced issues with rescheduling flights, others criticized the unions for not considering customer needs. The VC union and aviation group seem to be at an impasse as Pinheiro said, "Despite our deliberate decision not to take strike action over the Easter holidays, no serious offers have been made."
Company stance
Lufthansa calls unions demands absurd, unachievable
In response to the strike announcement, Lufthansa said it was a "completely new level of escalation." The company also called the group's demand to "double an already above-average and excellent company pension scheme" as absurd and unachievable. This comes after cabin crew at Lufthansa went on strike on Friday amid a walkout by UFO union members.
Operational disruption
Previous strike led to hundreds of flight cancellations
The previous strike by cabin crew members led to hundreds of flight cancellations at major hubs like Munich and Frankfurt. In Frankfurt alone, nearly 75% of some 350 scheduled Lufthansa departures were canceled on Friday. The airline plans to minimize disruption by adding flights from other group airlines such as Austrian Airlines and using larger aircraft.