Lufthansa’s cabin crew union has announced a new two-day strike at two of Germany’s major airports—Frankfurt and Munich—scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. This strike is the latest development in a series of industrial actions that have disrupted the German airline, highlighting ongoing tensions between the airline’s management and its workforce.
The strike is expected to impact a significant number of passengers, with Lufthansa estimating that approximately 100,000 travelers will be affected. The action will involve all flights departing from Frankfurt on Tuesday and all flights departing from Munich on Wednesday. The strike will run from 04:00 to 23:00 local time on both days. It will affect not only Lufthansa’s main operations but also its low-cost, short-haul subsidiary, Cityline. It remains unclear whether Lufthansa’s code-share partners will be impacted by the strike.
The Independent Flight Attendants Organization (UFO), representing over 18,000 cabin crew members at Lufthansa and 1,000 at Cityline, is calling for a 15% pay increase and an inflation compensation payment of €3,000 (roughly $3,280 or £2,550). This demand comes in the wake of a vote by more than 96% of UFO members in favor of the strike. UFO’s board chairman, Joachim Vazquez Buerger, expressed that the strike was a regrettable step but necessary, urging the airline to ensure that its workers benefit from the financial success the company has achieved.
Lufthansa’s announcement of record profits for 2023, which saw its earnings double to €1.67 billion ($1.82 billion or £1.42 billion), has intensified the dispute. UFO argues that the cabin crew should share in the airline’s profitability. Buerger added that the union deeply regretted the need to take industrial action and asked passengers for their understanding and patience during the strike.
The strike comes shortly after a separate industrial action by Lufthansa ground staff, which also disrupted services at the airline. Ground workers, represented by the Ver.di union, went on strike last Thursday and Friday, demanding a 12.5% pay increase or an additional €500 per month, along with inflation compensation. Lufthansa had offered a pay raise of 10%, but Ver.di rejected the offer, arguing that ground staff wages remain close to the minimum wage level, despite the airline’s high profits.
The strikes have compounded the challenges facing Lufthansa, affecting thousands of passengers and leading to delays and cancellations across the network. UFO’s negotiator criticized the airline’s management for failing to reach an agreement with workers, suggesting that the airline was willing to let the situation worsen, putting both staff and passengers at a disadvantage.
