Lufthansa’s centenary year of celebrations is turning into one of disruption and strife as the German flag carrier faces down yet another day of strike action from aircrew… This time, from flight attendants at its flagship mainline carrier, as well as one of the airline’s short-haul subsidiaries.
Crew members from Lufthansa and Lufthansa CityLine, which operates short-haul flights on behalf of the airline across Europe, plan to stage a full one-day strike on Friday, April 10, over plans by Lufthansa to shutter the subsidiary and transfer its flying to another airline with cheaper staff.
The UFO union, which represents flight attendants at CityLine, claims Lufthansa management has refused to negotiate a collective social plan for employees affected by the closure of CityLine.
Flight attendants have already taken part in a so-called one-day ‘warning strike’ in February in an attempt to get Lufthansa negotiators to the bargaining table, but with no success.
Earlier this month, Flight attendants overwhelmingly authorized further strike action with 98% of crew members voting in favor of ratcheting up the pressure on Lufthansa.
On Friday, Flight attendants will stage a walkout on all scheduled flights due to depart from the German cities of Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Bremen, Stuttgart, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Berlin, and Hanover.
In a statement, Lufthansa slammed the planned walkout, saying the strike would hit “our passengers particularly hard amid the return travel rush at the end of the Easter holidays.”
“Viable solutions can only be achieved through dialogue,” the statement continued. “Strikes must always be the last resort. We remain open to talks and therefore call on the union to resume dialogue with us.”
In an attempt to keep passengers moving, Lufthansa says it is desperately trying to get other airlines within the Lufthansa Group to operate as many flights as possible. Tens of thousands of passengers are, however, still expected to be left stranded by the walkout.
The crux of the current dispute is over Lufthansa creating a new short-haul airline dubbed Lufthansa City Airlines, which employs cheaper pilots and flight attendants with fewer benefits and job protections.
Lufthansa plans to shutter CityLine and replace its flying with City Airlines, saying that the latter has “unfavourable union contracts” that make the business model unsustainable.
At the same time, mainline flight attendants are protesting Lufthansa’s demands for a “radical overhaul” of work rules aimed at reducing costs as the airline seeks to improve its operating margin.
Lufthansa has already faced several days of crippling strike action this year:
- On February 12, pilots at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo, as well as mainline flight attendants and CityLine crew members, staged a one-day warning strike.
- On March 12 and March 13, pilots held a 48-hour work stoppage in protest at an ongoing dispute over pension contributions.
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Sphor has become known for seeking cost-cutting efficiencies by creating new airline subsidiaries that employ staff on cheaper contracts.
Along with the creation of City Airlines, Lufthansa has also offloaded more of its short-haul flying to its low-cost subsidiary Eurowings. Lufthansa has also created the even more low-cost leisure carrier Discover Airlines, in a bid to drive costs even further down.
For Spohr, the mainline brand has become outdated and inefficient, dragging down the airline’s financial performance, especially compared to other carriers in the Lufthansa Group.
In 2025, Lufthansa made €17.1 billion in revenues but only €148 million in profit. In comparison, SWISS made €6.48 billion in revenue but €600 million in profit, and Eurowings made €132 million in profit on revenues of €3.08 billion.
To look at it another way, Lufthansa’s operating margin was 0.9%, whereas SWISS reported an operating margin of 9.3%, and Eurowings 4.3%. Brussels Airlines also reported a higher margin at 1.7%, while Austrian’s operating margin was 3.2%.
Savings from employing staff on cheaper contracts are, however, offset by the massive financial hit that Lufthansa keeps on taking from strike action.
In 2024, coordinated strike action between flight attendants and ground staff over a new wage deal was estimated to have cost Lufthansa around €350 million, plus an additional in €100 million in additional wages that it didn’t initially want to pay.
