Lufthansa pilots announce second wave of strikes for Thursday and Friday

Pilots with Germany's flagship carrier Lufthansa have announced plans to once again go on strike on Thursday and Friday, after a 48-hour strike on Monday and Tuesday led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

The airline is also facing a cabin crew work stoppage on Wednesday and Thursday, News.Az reports, citing DW.

By the end of the week, Lufthansa's twin labor disputes with Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) and the UFO cabin crew trade union will have led to major strike disruptions on six consecutive workdays. 

What did the VC union say about its latest strike? 

The president of the VC trade union Andreas Pinheiro said on Tuesday that striking over the past two days had not altered Lufthansa's position. 

"The situation remains unchanged — there has been no movement whatsoever on the part of the employers," Pinheiro said in a trade union press release. "Neither Lufthansa nor Lufthansa Cargo has presented an offer regarding the company pension plan, nor is there a viable offer from Lufthansa CityLine for a new collective wage agreement or from Eurowings regarding the company pension plan." 

VC said that it had recommended arbitration to try to resolve the increasingly acrimonious labor dispute, which coincides with the airline's centenary. 

Around 900 flights were canceled just at Germany's two busiest airports, Frankfurt and Munich, on Tuesday amid the current strike. 

As on Monday and Tuesday, VC said its pilots on the few flights still serving the Middle East would not strike given the unrest in the region. Flights to Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen would be granted a reprieve, the union said. 

Merz, protesters expected at Wednesday's centenary amid a week of disruption

The week of strikes is sure to sour Wednesday's celebrations outside the company's headquarters at Frankfurt Airport, marking the 100th anniversary of its original founding. 

Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder are expected to attend. 

Meanwhile, the VC and UFO unions are planning a rally outside the company headquarters. 

Strictly speaking, pilots will not be on strike on Wednesday. But with cabin crew starting their two-day walkout, similar disruptions to scheduled services seem likely. 

The airline, which last week hailed an agreement with rival trade union Verdi that's an alternative for both pilots and cabin crew, did not immediately comment on Tuesday's late-evening announcement. 

However, this week it had told VC and UFO to use their strike option judiciously, warning that they further weaken the financial situation of the airline and could ultimately lead to more severe cost-cutting or downsizing. 

The airline on Monday called UFO's pension demand "absurd and unfulfillable," while CEO Carsten Spohr told Tuesday's edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that the airline would be sticking to its restructuring plans. 

Going forward, he said, the maxim would have to be: "We operate aircraft exclusively where they generate value."

News.Az 

By Leyla Şirinova