There may be some disruption for around 7,000 passengers on the airline’s flights to the UK.
Along with 11 flights from Manchester to Germany, all 34 of Lufthansa’s routes linking Heathrow with Frankfurt and Munich will be grounded.
Affected travellers have the right to a quick flight to their destination.
Consumer advocacy organizations contend that cancellations brought on by airline workers’ strikes do not qualify as “exceptional circumstances,” thus they may also be entitled to compensation.
Due to a pilots’ strike, German airline Lufthansa canceled almost 800 flights on Friday, including dozens that served the UK (Bayne Stanley/Alamy Stock Photo/PA).
In a dispute over salary, the Lufthansa pilots’ organization, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), announced the strike on Thursday.
For its more than 5,000 pilots, VC is asking a 5.5% wage increase this year and automatic inflation compensation moving forward.
As soon as possible, we intend to resume discussions, a Lufthansa official stated today. But we also cannot afford the expense hikes brought on the VC’s demands, he said.
Bosses were charged by VC of neglecting to enhance their prior proposal.
According to the union’s representative, Matthias Baier: “Aware of our responsibilities for enterprises and visitors, we sought to leave no stone unturned and provided another negotiating date despite an insufficient offer and unsuccessful conversations.
We also didn’t get a good enough offer today. This is regrettable and a lost chance. The talks had broken down.
The only action left to be taken by us is to escalate our demands via a labor conflict.
According to Lufthansa, it has proposed to boost pilots’ basic salary by 900 euros (£777) per month. The airline said that the union’s requests would “increase payroll expenses by more than 40%.”
Michael Niggemann, the airline’s director of labor, stated: “We cannot comprehend VC’s request for a strike.”
“Despite the ongoing costs of the Covid problem and the cloudy outlook for the world economy, management has produced a very excellent and socially balanced offer,” the statement said.
“Thousands of consumers are being harmed by this escalation.”
The strike comes after a challenging summer for UK travelers, during which hundreds of flights were canceled by airlines such as British Airways, Easyjet, and TUI, while long waits at airports and issues with lost baggage were widely publicized.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) cites “chaos at airports” as a result of a persistent staffing shortfall at airports around the UK.