German pilots’ union announces further strikes at Lufthansa this week
The latest round of strike action continues a recent trend of travel disruptions at Germany’s busiest hubs, throwing passenger journeys into uncertainty.
German commercial pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) has called on its members at Lufthansa group airlines to continue staging strike action after a two-day demonstration earlier this week.
Set to begin on Thursday 16 April at 12:01 am local time and end on Friday 17 April at 11:59 pm local time, the latest round of action calls for arbitration to resolve the pension dispute.
Also, all Eurowings GmbH flights departing from German airports on 16 April between 12:01 am and 11:59 pm will be impacted, VC announced in its press release, saying that the situation remains “unchanged”.
“There is absolutely no movement on the part of the employers,” said Andreas Pinheiro, President of VC. “Neither Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo have made an offer regarding company pension schemes, nor has Lufthansa CityLine made a viable offer for a new collective bargaining agreement on remuneration, nor has Eurowings made any offer regarding company pension schemes.”
He also said that arbitration would be a means to resolve the dispute with the support of an independent third party and avoid further escalation.
This comes after initial strike action that took place on 12 and 13 April.
The walkout, announced with less than two days' notice, was projected to put at least 80% of flights from Frankfurt and Munich hubs in jeopardy, potentially leaving more than 50,000 travellers in limbo, Air Traveler Club reported.
VC, which represents at least 10,000 pilots across various German airlines, added that its grievance is rooted in Lufthansa's reluctance to settle several wage disputes, including over pensions.
How has Lufthansa responded?
With negotiations collapsing, the Cologne-based carrier now faces the fallout, including replacing scheduled flights with services operated by other airlines within the Lufthansa Group or partner airlines.
In an updated statement, Lufthansa said that passengers impacted by the action would be informed via email on 14 April.
As per the latest rebooking and refund policy, passengers with tickets from Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, Brussels Airlines or Air Dolomiti, issued on or before 13 April, and booked on Lufthansa-operated flights, including Lufthansa CityLine on 13-16 April can rebook for free to another Lufthansa Group flight from before 23 April. There is also the option to request a refund.
Lufthansa will also offer Deutsche Bahn train tickets for passengers on cancelled flights with no alternative options.
“We sincerely regret the disruption caused by the strike announced at short notice by the union Vereinigung Cockpit and thank you for your understanding,” the carrier said.
Weekend awash with disruptions
The upcoming strike action comes on the heels of ten of thousands of passengers across Germany experiencing travel disruptions.
Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation (UFO), a union representing cabin crew professionals in Germany, called on crew members of Lufthansa CityLine GmbH to strike on Friday 10 April.
The day-long strike grounded flights across Frankfurt and Munich, with The Independent reporting approximately 580 Frankfurt flight cancellations, affecting as many as 72,000 travellers.
Like their pilot counterparts, UFO’s grievances also lie in unresolved wage disputes – resorting to industrial action to achieve their demands.
“To this day, management consistently refuses to even enter into negotiations with us regarding our demands for a collectively agreed social plan, to address our demands, or even to submit a negotiable offer for such a plan,” the union said.
By AFP
April 13, 2026
The two strikes are set to disrupt's Lufthansa's operations for most of this week - Copyright AFP Alexandra BEIER
Hundreds of Lufthansa flights were cancelled Monday as pilots kicked off a two-day strike over pay and pensions, with cabin crew announcing they were staging yet another stoppage later this week.
On Monday, half of all long-distance flights and two-thirds of short-haul services were cancelled at Lufthansa, the group’s main airline, on the first day of the two-day industrial action by the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots’ union, the company said.
The VC pilots’ union said Monday afternoon that over 700 flights had been cancelled, adding in a statement that it was “ready for discussions at any time” so long as “realistic offers” were on the table.
Meanwhile cabin crew at Lufthansa also said on Monday that they plan to hit the airline with their own further two-day strike on Wednesday and Thursday.
The cabin crew stoppage will affect “all Lufthansa group departures from Frankfurt and Munich airports” for the whole of Wednesday and Thursday, according to the UFO union.
The two airports are the major hubs for the German airline.
Departures from Lufthansa’s Cityline subsidiaries at seven further airports are also part of the cabin crew strike call.
UFO cabin crew also walked out on Friday at both Lufthansa and CityLine in a dispute over working conditions.
The union’s top negotiator, Harry Jaeger, told AFP on Friday that the strike forced the aviation giant to cancel about 90 percent of flights by those two brands.
Lufthansa described Monday’s strike call “distressing”, saying it showed that the cabin crew union’s members are “completely indifferent to the fate of our passengers and the future of Lufthansa”.
But Jaeger said that the strike on Friday has already demonstrated “how determined they are to stand up for their working conditions”.
UFO contends that there has not been enough progress made on issues such as “avoiding overwork” and lengthening redundancy notice periods.
Pilots at Lufthansa have also gone on strike multiple times this year as part of their disputes with the company.
The most recent strike by pilots took place in mid-March, which grounded about half of the airline’s flights.
On February 12 almost 800 Lufthansa flights were cancelled, affecting around 100,000 passengers, when pilots and cabin crew staged a strike in a pensions dispute.
On Saturday, a Lufthansa spokesman had called the demands from the pilots’ union for higher pay and pensions “absurd and unfeasible”.
But the VC union’s president, Andreas Pinheiro, said the airline had “shown no tangible willingness to find a solution during several rounds of negotiations”.
“Although we deliberately refrained from any strike action during the Easter holidays, no serious proposal was made,” he added.
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