Lufthansa passengers must once again expect numerous flight cancellations this Tuesday. Because of the Verdi warning strike announced by ground staff, the airline estimates that it can only get 10 to 20 percent of its planned program into the air. During the first wave of warning strikes almost two weeks ago, around 900 flights were canceled; more than 100,000 passengers had to reschedule.
“Passengers affected by flight cancellations as a result of the Verdi strike will be informed by email or via the Lufthansa app,” the company said. “Please only come to the airport on February 20th if your flight has not been canceled. Due to the strike, the rebooking counters will unfortunately not be staffed.” Travelers can find out more about their flight here.
Alternatives to a planned flight include rebooking or, for connections within Germany, traveling by train. Flucktickets should be able to be converted into a train ticket free of charge.
The pilots’ strike at the Lufthansa subsidiary Discover went much more smoothly on Monday, which only had to cancel a single Mallorca flight in Frankfurt. According to a company spokesman, the first solidarity strike by the Cockpit Association on Lufthansa’s long-haul flights was completely absorbed. All four takeoffs of the striking Lufthansa Boeing 787 sub-fleet were possible without restrictions on Monday morning.
Verdi confirmed that in some areas the ground staff’s warning strike should begin this Monday at 8 p.m. At this point, forces in technology, logistics, freight and IT have already been called upon, said Verdi negotiator Marvin Reschinsky. Lufthansa ground staff will follow at 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning at the Frankfurt/Main, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne-Bonn and Stuttgart locations.
In Munich, around 170 employees of “Deicing and Aircraft Towing at Munich Airport GmbH” (EFM) have also been called on a warning strike for the first time. Verdi wants to enforce a first collective agreement with this joint subsidiary of the airport and Lufthansa. Lufthansa warned passengers of canceled flights. They should not come to the airport because the rebooking counters there are not manned, the information systems said.
The background to the warning strike by Lufthansa ground staff is the group-wide collective wage negotiations for, according to Verdi, around 25,000 employees on the ground – including at Deutsche Lufthansa, Lufthansa Technik, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Technik Logistik Services, Lufthansa Engineering and Operational Services and other group companies. Lufthansa speaks of around 20,000 employees.
Collective bargaining is scheduled to continue this Wednesday. Verdi described the second wave of warning strikes as necessary because Lufthansa had made no move to improve its existing offer in the previous negotiations.
The holiday airline Discover only departs from Frankfurt and Munich and is primarily intended to compete with Condor in the tourist business. The VC wants to force a first collective agreement at the airline, which was founded in summer 2021. According to its own information, Discover already pays higher pilot salaries, but it agreed these with the works council and not with the union. The new salaries correspond exactly to the demands of the VC, as both sides have confirmed. The union wants to continue the industrial action.
