GERMANY

Lufthansa pilots decide on second strike starting Wednesday

The two-day strike is set to start on Wednesday. However, unions have said industrial action could still be averted if Lufthansa presents a "serious offer."

Lufthansa pilots are ready for a second strike in a week

Pilots from Germany's Lufthansa airline have decided on a second round of strike action, the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union said on Monday night.

The union said Lufthansa could avert the two-day action, set to start on Wednesday, with a "serious offer." Another round of talks will take place Tuesday, according to media reports.

Pilots already paralyzed Lufthansa's core operations on Friday last week after negotiations on a new collective agreement had failed.

"We very much regret that the union is continuing on the path of escalation," a Lufthansa spokesperson said following the announcement.

Which flights will be affected?

The strike was expected to affect passenger flights out of Germany on Wednesday and Thursday, while Lufthansa's cargo subsidiary was set to be affected just on Wednesday.

For legal reasons, the strike only applies to Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo departures from German airports. Lufthansa subsidiaries such as Swiss, Austrian, Brussels and Eurowings were not included in the strike.

The all-day pilots' strike on Friday brought most flight operations to a halt. Around 130,000 passengers were affected by the cancellation of more than 800 flights. Lufthansa said the action cost it €32 million ($32 million).

What are the pilots demanding?

Vereinigung Cockpit said last week it was demanding a 5.5% pay rise for its more than 5,000 pilots alongside automatic inflation adjustments for 2023.

Spokesperson Matthias Baier said they hadn't received a "sufficient offer" on Thursday, calling it a "sobering and missed opportunity" on side of Lufthansa.

Lufthansa published details of the offer it said the trade union had walked away from. The last offer proposed a blanket increase of €900 per employee.

The company said this would signify an increase of 15% for pilots early in their career and 5% for experienced captains, based on salaries from the latest 18 months.

The airline was arguing that VC's demands would increase staff costs in the cockpit by 40%, describing the increase as "unreasonable," as it doesn't take into account the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

dh/rt (dpa, Reuters)