Lufthansa makes new wage
offer to striking pilots
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[November 30, 2016]
BERLIN
(Reuters) - Lufthansa said it had made its German pilots a new wage
offer to try to end strikes that are causing hundreds of flight
cancellations and costing millions of euros a day.
The airline said on Wednesday it had dropped demands that would see
pilots working more hours in exchange for a wage increase. It is still
offering to raise pilots' pay by 4.4 percent in two installments in 2016
and 2017 and make a one-off payment worth 1.8 months' pay.
Union Vereinigung Cockpit has called for an average annual pay rise of
3.7 percent for 5,400 pilots over a five-year period backdated to 2012
and had criticized management for seeking additional concessions in
exchange for more money.
"We want to get back to the negotiating table as quickly as possible,"
Lufthansa board member Bettina Volkens said in a statement, adding she
hoped the two sides could then discuss other issues such as pensions.
A VC spokesman said the union could not immediately comment on the fresh
proposal.
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German businesses and some other Lufthansa staff have called for an end
to the protests, which are costing the airline 10 to 15 million euros a
day.
The strike by pilots on Wednesday grounded almost 900 Lufthansa flights
and is the sixth day of strikes since last week. Lufthansa has canceled
about 4,500 flights since the walkouts started last week, the latest in
a series of protests that date back to early 2014.
Lufthansa says it has to cut costs to compete with leaner rivals such as
Ryanair on short-haul routes and Emirates [EMIRA.UL] on longer flights.
One of Lufthansa's major corporate customers, Siemens, said the strikes
were harming the Germany economy and the country's image and warned
Lufthansa that it needed to become more reliable.
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![](../images/113016PICS/busine21.jpg)
Pilots of German airline Lufthansa march during a strike of
Lufthansa pilots at Frankfurt airport, Germany, November 30, 2016.
REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
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"As a major customer we have to consider how we can deal with this on a
long-term basis," Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser told German daily Bild, adding
that the pilots should resume talks.
Analysts have said the walkouts are a good opportunity for rivals such
as Ryanair and easyJet to gain market share and could mean
Lufthansa misses its 2016 profit target. Its shares dropped 2.5 percent
on Wednesday, also hit by a rising oil price.
The pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) held a rally at Frankfurt
airport on Wednesday morning, but also faced a counter-demonstration
from Lufthansa ground crew, who feel the pilots are hurting the company
and jeopardizing jobs.
(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Additional reporting by Peter Maushagen;
editing by David Clarke and Keith Weir)
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