Tens of thousands of passengers are set to be caught up in yet another strike by pilots at the German flag carrier, Lufthansa, with a deepening dispute over pensions and pay now resulting in a 48-hour strike set to take place between March 12 and March 13.
The strike is being called by the Vereinigung Cockpit union, which has called on pilots at Lufthansa’s mainline carrier to take part in the walkout, alongside flight crew at short-haul subsidiary Lufthansa CityLine and Lufthansa Cargo.
Lufthansa is preparing for mass disruption with nearly all flights expected to be grounded on Thursday and Friday. The only exception is for flights to and from the Middle East, which the VC union has specifically excluded from the strike.
Pilots took part in a so-called one-day ‘warning strike’ on February 12 that resulted in the cancellation of nearly 800 flights and left as many as 130,000 passengers stranded.
Since then, the VC union claims Lufthansa has refused to return to the negotiating table.
“We would have very much liked to avoid further escalation,” commented VC President Andreas Pinheiro. “We ask affected passengers for their understanding. A strike is always a last resort for us and not an end in itself,” Pinheiro added.
The strike covers two disputes:
- The first is at the mainline Lufthansa airline, where pilots are unhappy about the carrier’s plans to change pensions from a defined benefit pension to a newer defined contribution pension, which is based on how much pilots have contributed into the scheme and how those contributions perform in the stock market.
- The second is about pay and conditions at the short-haul subsidiary Lufthansa CityLine, which was deliberately created so that pilots and flight attendants would be employed on lower pay.
The mainline strike will take place on March 12 and March 13, while the walkout at Lufthansa CityLine will only take place on March 12.
In a statement, Lufthansa said it was “working intensively to keep the impact on our passengers as low as possible.”
“We are trying to have as many flights as possible operated by other airlines within the Lufthansa Group and by partner airlines,” the statement added.
Passengers could be rebooked on other airlines within the Lufthansa Group, including Lufthansa City Airlines, Eurowings, and Discover within Germany, or even onto flights departing from surrounding countries, like Austrian Airlines and SWISS.
When and where will the strike take place?
The strike will affect passenger flights operated by the mainline Lufthansa brand, as well as Lufthansa Cargo services, which depart from Germany on March 12 and March 13. Flights operated by Lufthansa CityLine will also be impacted on March 12.
The strike should not affect inbound flights to Germany, so long as the outbound flight departed before the start of the walkout.
The strike won’t impact flights operated by Lufthansa’s myriad subsidiaries, such as Eurowings and Discover Airlines.
How many passengers will be impacted?
Lufthansa has yet to process cancellations for the strike period, so it’s too early to say exactly how many passengers will be impacted. That being said, it’s estimated that tens of thousands of passengers could be caught up in the disruption.
It remains to be seen whether Lufthansa will attempt to operate some flights or will blanket-cancel flights during the strike period.
Are passengers able to claim EU-261 compensation for a cancelled or delayed flight?
Given that this is an internal strike, Lufthansa will struggle to argue that the walkout is an ‘extraordinary circumstance’ that it has no control over. As a result, passengers may be able to claim compensation under Europe’s EU-261 passenger rights regulations.
Compensation can be claimed if a flight is delayed by at least three hours or cancelled with less than 14 days’ notice.
Even if Lufthansa argues that it is not liable to pay compensation, stranded passengers can still appeal an initial rejection, and, in any case, are entitled to care and assistance in the form of meals and refreshments, hotel accommodation for overnight delays, and transport to and from the place of accommodation.
