Lufthansa hit by back-to-back strikes as pilots, cabin crew walk out

Lufthansa has had to cancel hundreds of flights amid continuing labor unrest from pilots and flight attendants at the national airline company in Germany.

The pilots' union, called Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), has staged a 48-hour strike from Monday, impacting not only the Lufthansa brand but the cargo arm of the airline and even its regional carrier called CityLine. The pilots in Eurowings only go on strike on Monday.

Frankfurt International Airport, which is Germany’s busiest airport, saw 570 take-offs and landings cancelled, most of which belonged to Lufthansa. This affected more than 50,000 passengers.

Lufthansa reported that two-thirds of its short and medium-haul flights, and half of its long-haul flights were grounded. Eurowings, another subsidiary of Lufthansa, flew just under 60% of its planned routes.

The strike is caused by a disagreement regarding the pension scheme of the company, where VC is demanding an increased contribution from Lufthansa by over 100%. The airline referred to the request as "absurd and unfulfillable."

As an additional aggravating factor, the UFO cabin crew union launched its two-day strike effective from Wednesday, and thus Lufthansa is facing four days of strikes consecutively.

However, according to the airline, flights to the Middle East will not be impacted due to ongoing conflicts in Iran.

Lufthansa recommended exchanging tickets for train vouchers to minimize the inconvenience to the passengers, while criticizing the unnecessary strike. Union representatives, however, referred to the management’s reluctance to hold negotiations as a cause for strikes.

This strike is the fourth one this year involving Lufthansa pilots.