Lufthansa strike expands to long-haul flights

In their long-running struggle over proposed retirement plan changes, members of the German pilots union, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), have turned up the heat on Lufthansa by extending its current two-day strike for short-haul routes to include long-haul routes as well.

The 35-hour strike, the eighth labor action that VC has coordinated against Lufthansa in 2014, began on Monday, Oct. 20, forcing the carrier to cancel about 1,500 mostly short- and medium-haul flights from its Frankfurt hub, or 65 percent of its service, and is scheduled to end a minute before midnight tonight, Oct. 21.

In a recent twist, however, more cargo shipments may be delayed by the strike than previously assumed. VC has asked pilots who fly Lufthansa’s more profitable long-haul routes to join the strike by 6 a.m. local time today. Because the airline’s widebody fleet is used mostly for long-haul operations, a substantial amount of belly cargo shipments could be disrupted, not to mention at least 200,000 passengers.

However, the airline’s freight subsidiary, Lufthansa Cargo, said all its freighter flights will operate today, as scheduled. Lufthansa also said it will divert passengers via other air hubs in Zurich, Vienna and Brussels, served by its Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines units, which are not affected by the strike. The carrier said it has reserved 3,800 hotel rooms for passengers that will be stranded because of the strike and is providing additional snacks, drinks and additional staff members to help passengers find alternate route I through Frankfurt and Munich.

VC represents about 5,400 Lufthansa pilots and is pressuring the carrier to maintain its current policy of allowing pilots to retire at the age of 55 and still receive up to 60 percent of their salaries before pension kick in at age 65.

“The strikes not only cause severe economic damage to Lufthansa, but they also harm its reputation, with considerable consequences for our company and employees that remain unforeseeable even today,” said Simone Menne, chief financial officer of Lufthansa AG. “Why the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ union is blocking a solution to the collective bargaining conflict without compromise is no longer comprehensible.”