Lufthansa Strike To Become An International Affair

Lufthansa's long-haul pilots will join the action with their short- and medium-leg colleagues over changes to their retirement plans. Long-haul flights had originally been exempted from the strike, announced Sunday.



Long-haul pilots will walk out from 6 a.m. to 11: 59 p.m. (0400-2159 UTC) Tuesday, the Cockpit union announced, joining the short- and medium-haul pilots who plan to stop work beginning at 1 p.m. on Monday. Long-haul services affected would include all Lufthansa flights on Airbus A380, A340 and A330 planes, as well as any national flights on Boeing 747s, according to the union. Short- and medium-haul cancellations include flights on the Airbus A320 family, Boeing 737 and Embraer-made planes.



Cockpit has called on Lufthansa bosses to "abandon their hard-line attitude" and "make a contribution to the resolution of the labor dispute."



In their latest battle to keep early retirement benefits, Lufthansa pilots announced the 35-hour strike on Sunday, the eighth such work stoppage to hit Europe's largest airline in just over six months. Prior to the addition of the long-haul pilots, Lufthansa had canceled 1,450 short and medium-haul flights, grounding more than 130,000 passengers.



Worker demands



Cockpit members have protested a new wage contract with a later retirement age. Currently, pilots flying for Lufthansa can retire at 55, with most choosing to receive their pension at 59.



Lufthansa management claims it can no longer finance the early retirement scheme because of increased competition. The airline wants to increase the retirement age to 61, but has offered to allow pilots who began flying in January this year to still qualify for early retirement. Talks between Cockpit and Lufthansa broke down in September.



The Lufthansa strike brings further travel disruption to Germany after train drivers staged a 50-hour walkout over the weekend, leading to the cancellation of 70 percent of long-haul train connections. The train drivers' union GDL has announced a seven-day strike pause, beginning on Monday.



Although 2,150 flights were originally affected by the Lufthansa strike, volunteer pilots and assistance from other airlines managed to save 700 connections from cancellation. So far, the strike isn't affecting the Lufthansa subsidiaries Austrian Airlines and Swiss or Germanwings, which was hit by a half-day strike last week.



Travelers should visit Lufthansa's website to check whether their flight has been canceled. Lufthansa has asked all travelers to check their flight status prior to departure.



mkg/ksb (Reuters, AFP, dpa)