According to their organization, pilots for the German airline Lufthansa will go on strike on Thursday due to a disagreement about pensions.
According to a union spokesperson who spoke to AFP on Tuesday, the Vereinigung Cockpit union’s call will impact both the Lufthansa Cargo freight operation and planes operated under the Lufthansa brand.
In a separate statement, the UFO cabin crew union claimed it had called for a walkout by Lufthansa CityLine employees during the same time frame.
“The industrial action affects all flights departing from German airports between 00:01 and 23:59 local time,” the pilots’ union said in a statement.
The union president, Andreas Pinheiro, stated that the employees “would have very much liked to avoid an escalation”
The strike ballot was held in September, and “we deliberately gave Lufthansa several months to come up with a solution,” he stated.
While Lufthansa contends that cost reductions are necessary to manage its debt, the pilots are demanding improved retirement benefits.
In September, Lufthansa said that it would eliminate 4,000 positions, or around 4% of its total staff.
Hit by walkouts, aircraft delivery delays and rising costs, the airline’s earnings tumbled by a fifth in 2024, the latest full year available, and profitability has fallen behind leading European rivals.
“Given the publicly announced closure of Lufthansa CityLine’s flight operations and the employer’s continued refusal to negotiate a collective social plan,” the UFO union declared that it was calling for a strike.
A year ago, Lufthansa declared that it will shut down Lufthansa CityLine and relocate its employees to a new company.
