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The
Ufo labor union on Friday announced strikes from Monday to
Wednesday this week at Germanwings, which operates on behalf of
Lufthansa's Eurowings brand, saying little progress has been
achieved in talks with Lufthansa management.
Around 15% of flights at Eurowings needed to be canceled, a
Lufthansa spokeswoman said on Monday.
"First 35 flights were canceled, then 54, now 170, meaning that
Germanwings will only manage 7% of its original flight
operations today," a spokesman for Ufo said, speaking at the
Cologne-Bonn airport.
"That should be a sign for Lufthansa group. Your employees are
really angry. You finally have to change something," he added.
The majority of the canceled flights were domestic, according to
the Eurowings website. Stranded passengers were offered train
tickets to their destinations or given a seat on flights
operated by other Lufthansa airlines.
Some passengers said that while they understood cabin crew's
grievances, the timing, in the middle of the holiday season, was
problematic.
"I am from France and it is worse there. I am in favor of
workers expressing themselves, but I am not sure if the time is
right," said Celine Guiakam, a passenger at Cologne-Bonn
airport.
"There is no good time for strikes. Every strike and every delay
is one too many and in so far we regret that it has to happen at
all," a spokesman for Eurowings said.
The deadlocked collective bargaining dispute for the 22,000
cabin employees concerns pay and working conditions among other
issues
Ufo held a strike for two days in November, resulting in the
cancellation of one in five flights, affecting around 180,000
passengers and costing the airline 10-20 million euros ($22.39
million).
(Reporting by Reuters TV, writing by Riham Alkousaa, editing by
Louise Heavens)
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