The flight attendants’ union UFO said its members would begin their industrial action at 1300 GMT on Friday, initially at the hubs of Frankfurt and Duesseldorf, with further stoppages planned on Saturday. On Monday, a few 113,000 passengers on 929 flights were affected at the three airports.
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Lufthansa added that “nearly all” continental and intercontinental flights had been cancelled on Monday. The company said it will publish modified flight schedules later Sunday. Lufthansa’s offer to UFO also included the further option of having the undrawn transitional pension amount paid out in lump-sum form – a payment which could have totaled as much as Euro 380,000.
Lufthansa Group and Lufthansa German Airlines executive boards will decide Monday evening on the ramifications of UFO’s strike action, which is unprecedented in Lufthansa history. That compares with the 352 million euros and 9,700 cancellations tied to a series of pilot strikes since previous year.
Carolyn and Finley Watkins, on a European holiday from the US, were settling in to spend the day at Frankfurt airport after their flight to Budapest was cancelled. The union did not strike on Sunday, saying it did not want to inconvenience leisure travelers.
UFO is demanding that the current system of early retirement provisions remain unchanged, but Lufthansa argues that the system is too expensive in the face of cut-throat competition from low-priced operators such as Ryanair and Easyjet.
A union representing Lufthansa cabin crew is shifting its strike targets for Tuesday.
Passengers queue in front of Lufthansa counters at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday November 7, 2015.
“Lufthansa will do its utmost to keep the effects of a strike to a minimum and to inform passengers as soon as possible”.
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They are in dispute with management over early retirement benefits and pensions.
