Alert air travelers! Flying to Germany via Lufthansa Airline, then this news is for you! After nearly 700 passengers were stranded at Terminal 3 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Friday (September 2), a union representing pilots at the German carrier Lufthansa says they will be ready to travel starting Wednesday (September 7). The two-day strike will be staged until the company’s “serious” offer in talks over pay hikes, the second strike in a week after pilots staged a walkout on Friday, leading to the cancellation of hundreds of flights. The Vereinigung Cockpit Union has called for a 5.5 percent increase for its members this year and an 8.2 percent increase that eliminates inflation in 2023.
Pilots are also demanding a new pay and leave structure. The airline says those measures will increase its staffing costs by about 40 percent, or about 900 million euros over two years.
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Instead it has offered a one-time increase of 900 euros (US$900), a 5 percent increase for senior pilots and 18 percent for those starting the profession. Strong unions have traditionally ensured good conditions for workers in Germany, using strikes in labor disputes to press their demands.
(with inputs from AP)