The flights have been cancelled from Lufthansa’s two biggest hubs, Frankfurt and Munich. A flight to Munich was scheduled to leave Delhi at 1.10 a.m. and another to Frankfurt at 2.50 a.m. on 2nd September. Flightradarwr showed a drastic fall in the number of Lufthansa aircraft in the air on Friday afternoon. Lufthansa has cancelled a total of 821 flights due to a pilot strike.
What’s the problem?
The airline said on 1st September that it would have to cancel 800 flights on Friday, likely affecting 130,000 passengers, after the pilots’ union announces a one-day strike. A report said that the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) Union had said late on August 31 that talks to increase salaries had failed. The union is demanding a 5.5% increase in salaries this year and an automatic inflation compensation thereafter, for its more than 5,000 pilots.
Lufthansa has said that it would continue talking to pilots but it can’t afford the rise in py that they are demanding. Michael Niggemann, the Lufthansa executive board member responsible for human resources, said the strike was incomprehensible. He defended the “very good and socially balanced” offer that the airline had made to the pilots.
Lufthansa has offered a total of 900 Euros more in basic pay per month in two stages over an 18-month term as well as an agreement guaranteeing cockpit staff a minimum fleet size.
Why Lufthansa Pilots are still on strike?
•Thus has been Europe’s summer of discontent at the airport. Then as large number of people sought to fly after two years of disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, airlines and airports have faced shortage of staff and strikes by employees employees. Hence they had to contend with complaints of long ques and lost or delayed bags from passengers.
• The situation has been worsened by inflation and increase in cost of living brought on by the war in Ukraine.
