Pilots at Germany’s flag carrier Lufthansa have announced further strike action for Thursday and Friday, following a 48-hour walkout on Monday and Tuesday that led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights.
The airline is also facing a cabin crew stoppage called by the UFO union, set to run from Wednesday through Thursday. With pilots and cabin crew taking coordinated action under Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) and UFO, Lufthansa is braced for sustained disruption across several consecutive workdays.
VC president Andreas Pinheiro said the recent strikes had not pressured the company into meaningful concessions. He accused Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo of failing to present a proposal for company pensions, and said there had been no acceptable wage offer from Lufthansa CityLine or a pension offer from Eurowings. VC has urged arbitration as a potential path to resolve the increasingly bitter dispute, which coincides with the airline’s 100th anniversary.
About 900 flights were cancelled at Frankfurt and Munich, the carrier’s two busiest hubs, on Tuesday amid the industrial action. VC indicated pilots flying to the Middle East would be exempt from the latest stoppages because of unrest in the region; services to Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen were to operate.
Wednesday’s centenary events outside Lufthansa’s headquarters at Frankfurt Airport are expected to be clouded by the labour disputes. Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder are due to attend official celebrations while VC and UFO plan a rally outside the company site.
Although pilots are not striking on Wednesday, the cabin crew walkout begins that day, so similar service disruptions are likely. Lufthansa last week welcomed a deal with rival union Verdi that it said could serve as an alternative framework for resolving pilot and cabin crew demands, and the airline has repeatedly urged VC and UFO to limit strike action, warning further walkouts could worsen its finances and force deeper cost cuts or downsizing.
Lufthansa dismissed UFO’s pension demand as unrealistic and unworkable. CEO Carsten Spohr told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung the carrier will continue with restructuring measures and will operate aircraft only on routes that deliver value.
Negotiations remain deadlocked as both sides prepare for more days of disruption, and passengers are being advised to check flight statuses and stay in touch with the airline for updates.