Strike Forces Lufthansa to Cancel 800 Flights

Image: PHOTO: Lufthansa Airbus A350. (photo courtesy of Lufthansa)
Image: PHOTO: Lufthansa Airbus A350. (photo courtesy of Lufthansa)
Alex Temblador
by Alex Temblador
Last updated: 12:10 AM ET, Tue January 15, 2019

Amid a strike, Lufthansa has canceled 800 flights on Tuesday.

The airline had to cut half of the 1,600 scheduled flights, thus affecting the travel plans of 90,000 passengers.

Workers in Germany staged a walkout ahead of pay talks, thus affecting the Lufthansa flights. The workers involved in the walkout are public sector workers such as ground handlers in the airports in Frankfort, Munich, Cologne, and Bremen.

For those flights that weren't canceled, Lufthansa has informed passengers to get to their airports early.

Verdi, the train union associated with the strikes, said that the walkout is intended to increase pressure on employers before the wage talks.

In response, Lufthansa said that the airline "cannot comprehend Verdi's threat to carry out such a massive strike," according to the BBC.

"It is completely unacceptable for the union to impose this conflict on uninvolved passengers," added Bettina Volkens, Lufthansa's head of human resources.

"Lufthansa is not a part of this collective bargaining conflict, but unfortunately our customers and our company are being affected by the consequences of this dispute."

She said, "Politicians and legislators must define clear rules for strikes and industrial actions."

Lufthansa expects all services to return to normal on Wednesday.

Air France has dealt with similar strikes in the past week that have disrupted flights, too. Their airline staff is demanding a six percent pay raise from the company who is only offering a one percent increase.

The airline had to ground one-third of their flights on Saturday and will only operate 75 percent of their flights on Tuesday.


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