Digital Crosstalk

Lufthansa pilots’ strike grounds flights

Posted by Brian | Filed under air

Almost 50% of German airline Lufthansa’s services were scrapped Monday as pilots at the airline began a four day strike over job security.

Travel plans of tens of thousands of passengers have been disrupted as some 800 flights have been grounded as a result of the strike with the airline’s long-haul routes worst affected by the strike. The majority of the carrier’s short-haul flights are running as normal.

The strike action has also affected Lufthansa’s budget airline subsidiary, Germanwings.

With further cancellations expected throughout the week, the airline has asked for a court ruling to halt the strike, with a decision expected to be delivered on Tuesday.

Passengers affected by the industrial action will be offered alternative arrangements – including train tickets or flights with partner airlines – or a full refund, while Lufthansa has published an amended flights timetable on its website, and providing regular updates via its Twitter feed.

More than 4000 pilots are involved in the strike action which has been organised by Vereinigung Cockpit – the pilots’ union – with the main concerns being job security.

The airline estimates that the strike could see loss of revenue in the region of €25million per day. Lufthansa also holds stakes in BMI, Swiss International Airlines, Austrian Airlines and JetBlue.

Tags: Airline, Austrian Airlines, BMI, Flight length, Germanwings, JetBlue Airways, Lufthansa, Swiss International Air Lines