Lufthansa is cancelling flights on Monday due to a union strike. As a result, Germany’s largest airline has cancelled 1,700 mostly domestic and shorter-haul international flights in order to apply their reduced staff to keeping the most profitable long-haul flights in the air.
Swiss Air then announced that the Verdi strike has caused them to cancel several flights on Monday as well. If you are flying on either Swiss Air or Lufthansa on Monday, you are strongly advised to contact the airline to find out if you need to be rebooked.
The UK media is reporting that 113 flights between the UK and Germany have been cancelled.
Verdi, a union representing 33,000 workers at Lufthansa, wasn’t happy with the airline’s latest offer on Wednesday – a trifling 1.2 percent raise starting in October, with another 0.5 percent added after a year. They want a pay increase of over 5 percent.
They have already held a previous one-day strike a month ago, on March 21, which caused Lufthansa to cancel about 40 percent of that day’s flights. A full list of the cancelled flights and how to rebook them can be found on Lufthansa’s page published on Saturday afternoon. The short version is that you will be able to rebook with no charge for a change fee, and you will also be allowed to take the Deutsche Bahn (train) instead.
American travelers to the Middle East and Africa frequently connect in Frankfurt, so if you’re traveling internationally, double-check your ticket to make sure you won’t be affected, even if your final destination is not in Germany.
Some long-haul international flights that depart on tomorrow, on April 21, have also been cancelled by Lufthansa.
Lufthansa’s labor struggles are well-publicized. In addition to the March strike, there were also several one-day strikes in 2012.
We understand the frustration due to long hold times at call centers. Please bear with us & thank you for your continued patience.
— Lufthansa USA (@Lufthansa_USA) April 20, 2013
Strike in Germany on April 22 will affect SWISS operated and Lufthansa codeshare flights. Check here for more info: bit.ly/pmF4SY
— Swiss Intl Air Lines (@FlySWISS) April 20, 2013
[Lufthansa airplane photo by Lasse Fuss via Wikipedia Commons]
