Lufthansa pilots turned up the pressure on management in a dispute over early retirement provisions Monday by calling a fourth day of walkouts, the latest challenge to cost-cutting at Europe's older airlines. Just a day after pilots at French flag carrier Air France ended their longest-ever strike, Lufthansa pilots announced nearly a full-day of stoppages on long-haul flights out of Frankfurt for Tuesday.
The pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit called on its members to strike on long-haul flights departing from Germany's busiest airport between 8:00 am and 11:00 pm (0600-2100 GMT). Lufthansa pilots are striking over changes to their retirement benefits, which are being brought in as part of deep structuring by the German carrier in recent years to bring down costs.
Pilots can currently take paid early retirement from the age of 55. They are fighting a plan by the airline to raise the minimum age and to involve pilots in the financing of their pensions. Cockpit already grounded thousands of flights of its parent company Lufthansa during three days of strikes in March and April, costing the airline around 60 million euros ($76 million).
The walkouts come as Europe's long-established airlines are feeling the heat of cut-throat competition from low-cost rivals and stricter regulation. "The environment within the sector has become more difficult," said DZ Bank analyst Dirk Schlamp, questioning whether the current early retirement provisions were "really very appropriate in this day and age".
"A lot has changed and the pilots don't seem to recognise this," and public support for the pilots is waning, he added. The strike would affect services on Lufthansa's Airbus A380, A330 and A340 and Boeing 747 aircraft, the union said. "We feel compelled to take further industrial action as Lufthansa management has failed so far to table an offer worthy of compromise," Cockpit said. "We remain open to a deal in order to avert strikes and we regret any inconvenience caused to customers," it added. Lufthansa said it would cancel 25 out of a total 57 flights from Frankfurt on Tuesday, bringing the total number of flights grounded since the end of August to nearly 500. Long-haul flights leaving from Duesseldorf and Munich would not be affected. "A total 32 flights will go ahead, with 26 to be flown by volunteer pilots. Two departures will take off early, and four will be delayed until Wednesday," Lufthansa said in a statement. The airline blasted the renewed walkouts, saying it would substantially tarnish its reputation and would have "unforeseeable consequences" for all of the group's 120,000 employees.