Lufthansa’s pilots, who struck intercontinental flights yesterday, have extended their strike for a second day. As a result, Lufthansa has cancelled over 1000 short and medium-haul flights affecting 140,000 passengers.
The strike, which is the 13th in 18 months continues a growing history of bad relations between Lufthansa and its unions, especially Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) which represents the pilots. Pay and pensions are among the issues, but the hot-button issues include Lufthansa’s staffing levels, and its continuing push to cut costs by basing crews and planes in country’s with more lenient labor and wage laws.
The strike affects only Lufthansa flights, not those operated by its subsidiaries, which include Germanwings, Swiss Airlines, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines.
Lufthansa has filed for injunctions to prevent or end the strike, and has announced it will seek damages from VC for losses from a previous strike. No negotiations are scheduled, and Lufthansa says it is “currently not possible to hold constructive negotiations.”
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