Immediately before Christmas, the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) called on its members to go on a warning strike at the Lufthansa subsidiary Discover Airlines.
All departures from Germany are to go on strike tomorrow, Saturday between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., as the union announced. The holiday airline, founded in 2021, has 24 Airbus aircraft and takes off from the Lufthansa hubs in Frankfurt and Munich.
The number of affected passengers is still unclear
At the time in question, there are eleven Discover flights on Frankfurt’s timetable, including to long-haul destinations in Florida and the Dominican Republic. In Munich the company operates under Lufthansa flight numbers, so that ultimately 16 departures could be struck. The number of passengers affected is still unclear.
According to its own information, the airline plans to either operate the flights on the same day outside of the strike period or to rebook the passengers on other airlines. “Our priority is to offer all of our guests a travel option,” said a company spokeswoman.
Deadlocked negotiations
According to the union, the reason for the warning strike is the stalled negotiations surrounding the first collective agreement for pilots at the still young subsidiary. The employer and union were now well on the way to reaching at least a partial agreement, the VC said the day before. However, the employers had until the end “used a stalling tactic by pulling concessions off the table and at the same time demanding new conditions for tariff classification,” criticized the VC. You need safe framework conditions for the cockpit staff.
On Friday, however, the company spoke of “very good advanced discussions”. We are on the home stretch towards concluding a collective agreement. “Partial agreements have already been reached and there is a clear intention to continue negotiations in January and to reach a conclusion quickly,” said a spokeswoman. Solutions can only be found at the negotiating table and we are ready to continue the joint discussions at any time.
