|
 The pilots, represented by union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), are
striking from 0600 to 1700 ET on long-haul routes from Frankfurt,
Europe's third-largest airport and Lufthansa's main hub.
The strike, affecting around 9,000 travelers, is the longest since a
three-day nationwide walkout in April, and the union threatened
more.
Three strikes since the end of August have targeted specific
operations such as those at Munich or Frankfurt and budget unit
Germanwings and have lasted around six to eight hours.
"We're not on the same level for talks," VC board member Markus Wahl
told Reuters on Tuesday. "If Lufthansa doesn't make a move, then
further strikes will happen."
The pilots are trying to increase pressure on management to maintain
a retirement scheme that gives pilots the option to retire from the
age of 55 and still receive up to 60 percent of their pay until
regular retirement.
Lufthansa, in the midst of a cost-cutting plan and trying to set up
new low-cost units to battle tough competition, wishes to alter the
scheme for new pilots, so that the average age at which its pilots
retire rises to around 60.
Lufthansa, Europe's largest airline by revenue, has canceled 25 of
57 long-haul flights planned for Tuesday as a result of the strike.
In total, around 50 flights have been canceled from Monday to
Wednesday in order to ensure crews and planes are not stranded.
[to top of second column] |
As in previous strikes, the airline is using managers with pilots'
licences to keep planes flying. "We've managed to keep one in every
two flights in the air," a spokeswoman said.
Lufthansa is not the only flag-carrying airline in Europe struggling
with labor relations. Air France pilots called an end to a two-week
strike over the weekend in a row over low-cost expansion.
(Reporting by Peter Maushagen; Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by
Elaine Hardcastle)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
