Further trouble looms at Lufthansa – this time it’s the pilots who may strike

On Wednesday last Week, Germany’s flag carrying airline Lufthansa was forced to cancel over 1,000 flights as a consequence of one-day strike action taken in protest at ongoing wage negotiations relating to a 9.5% wage hike for 20,000 ground crew. Now pilots with Germany’s leading airline have voted in favour of considering the option of strike action according to their Vereinigung Cockpit union.

Pilots are not just looking for an immediate 5.5% pay increase, but they also want an adjustment made for inflation to start next year. The union is claiming that after six rounds of talks, Lufthansa is yet to make a negotiable offer. According to the union, 97.6% of pilots who took part in a ballot approved its call. It said in statement that the vote “doesn’t yet necessarily lead to strike measures, but it is an unmistakable signal to Lufthansa to take the cockpit staff’s needs seriously.”

This damaging strike action comes hot on the heels of Lufthansa announcing that in the second quarter of the year the Group had returned to profitability based on a preliminary, unaudited basis having more than doubled its revenue compared to the previous year. It amounted to approximately €8.5 billion in the second quarter (previous year: €3.2 billion). The Group’s Adjusted EBIT was between €350 and €400 million euros (previous year: €-827 million). (£1.00 = €1.19 at time of publication).