The UFO union has called a one-day warning strike by Lufthansa cabin crew on Friday, asking staff at both Lufthansa and its CityLine regional arm to stop work from midnight until 22:00. UFO said the action will target all departures from Germany’s two busiest hubs, Frankfurt and Munich. CityLine crews will join the walkout at nine airports — Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Bremen, Stuttgart, Cologne-Bonn, Düsseldorf, Berlin and Hanover — during the same hours.
The strike follows a late-March ballot in which around 94% of Lufthansa members and 99% of CityLine members voted in favor of strike action after negotiations stalled. Talks center on working conditions for about 19,000 Lufthansa cabin crew and on social protections for roughly 800 CityLine employees, whose posts are at risk amid a restructuring and planned phase-out at CityLine.
UFO chairman Joachim Vazquez Bürger said the union deliberately avoided scheduling action over the Easter bank holidays to reduce disruption, but acknowledged the measure could still affect holiday return travel and expressed regret for that. He blamed Lufthansa for the breakdown in talks, saying the airline had not tabled an offer “worthy of negotiation.” The union added it had offered an informal grace period to Lufthansa over the past weekend.
Lufthansa urged UFO to return to the negotiating table, saying acceptable solutions can only be reached through dialogue and that strike action should be a last resort. The airline warned the timing could impact travelers returning from the Easter break and said it was ready to resume talks at any time.
The cabin crew dispute is one of several labor conflicts at Germany’s flag carrier. Lufthansa is also in negotiations with the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit. Pilots and cabin crew have staged multiple strikes this year, with pilots striking in mid-March and both unions coordinating actions earlier in the year to increase pressure.