(Feb 11): Pilots and cabin crew for Deutsche Lufthansa AG’s flagship airline plan to go on strike Thursday (Feb 12) in a disruption that stands to ground hundreds of flights and deal a blow to the group’s efforts to improve profitability.
The proposed pilot walkout would start Feb 12 at about 12.01am and last until 11:59pm, affecting all departures from German airports operated by Lufthansa and its cargo carrier, according to a letter from the Vereinigung Cockpit union. The announcement comes after talks failed to resolve differences over funding retirement pensions.
The UFO union, which represents cabin crews, has also called a full-day warning strike against Lufthansa for the same period at Frankfurt and Munich airports, citing a lack of progress on key issues in negotiations over a new collective framework agreement. It separately urged cabin crews at Lufthansa CityLine to walk out over the planned shutdown of the carrier and the refusal to negotiate a collective social plan.
Lufthansa shares fell as much as 4.5% in early Frankfurt trading. The shares had gained 44% during the past 12 months through Tuesday’s close.
Lufthansa said the “extremely short notice” given by the unions is affecting its passengers “extremely hard and disproportionately”. It called on the unions to resume talks and said the company is ready to do so at any time.
The actions signal a stormier year ahead for Lufthansa’s labour relations, as the carrier faces mounting pressure to lift profitability in a crowded European market. CEO Carsten Spohr’s latest strategy to boost margins features bundling hub airlines and cutting 4,000 administrative jobs.
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It would mark the first pilot strike since 2022 and add to the list of challenges facing Europe’s largest aviation group, including aircraft delivery delays, high taxes and fees, and the troubled rollout of its premium Allegris cabin.
Previous walkouts disrupted thousands of Lufthansa commercial flights, with strikes in 2014 and 2016 costing the carrier hundreds of millions of euros.
Negotiations over the pension plan broke down last year, prompting a strike ballot in September. Vereinigung Cockpit demands higher company contributions while Lufthansa sees little room for increases.
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Long-serving retired pilots receive an average of €8,400 a month from statutory and company pensions combined — including an average of about €5,400 from the corporate plan, according to an internal Lufthansa memo seen by Bloomberg.
Lufthansa’s struggling flagship carrier faces significantly higher crew costs than newer units such as City Airlines and Discover, where they’re as much as 40% lower. As a result, the group plans to shift more of its short-haul fleet away from the main airline.
On Tuesday, Lufthansa said its lower-cost Lufthansa City Airline opened a Frankfurt base and is recruiting cockpit and cabin crew. The local fleet will grow to seven Airbus SE A320neo aircraft by September, Lufthansa said.
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