More than 80% of Lufthansa Cargo’s scheduled flights will proceed on Thursday and Friday despite a planned strike by unionized pilots over pension and pay demands, Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
Pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit called for a 48-hour strike at Lufthansa Airlines and the group’s cargo airline over a change in a pension provision.
Lufthansa said it will be able to operate more than 50% of its originally scheduled flights, with long-haul services available at up to 60% of the full schedule. Lufthansa Cargo will operate more than 80% of its all-cargo flights.
The company said it will compensate for the capacity reduction by substituting flights by other group airlines and partner carriers. It will also utilize larger aircraft on strike days to accommodate more passengers.
Lufthansa Cargo operates 12 large Boeing 777 freighter aircraft and four standard Airbus A321 converted freighters. It also manages freight carried in the bellies of passenger aircraft at sister carriers Lufthansa Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and ITA Airways. Lufthansa Cargo also is responsible for marketing the capacities of six 777 freighters in the AeroLogic joint venture with DHL Express.
The Lufthansa Cargo website shows 10 rotations that have been canceled, including Beijing, China, to Frankfurt, Germany, on Friday.
Deutsche Lufthansa board member Michael Niggemann called the Vereinigung Cockpit union strike “completely incomprehensible” on its merits and “especially not at a time when we are experiencing a new level of geopolitical uncertainty with the war in Iran and passengers worldwide are affected.”
Niggemann stated that Lufthansa Airlines offers a strong pension package that compares favorably with other group airlines and the industry writ large.
“This company pension scheme has even been further improved over the past two years with a significant increase in pensionable remuneration for our pilots. Given the low margin at Lufthansa Classic, which in itself would not allow for investment in new aircraft, there is no scope for further increases. Strikes will not change this,” he said. “The path of escalation chosen by the Vereinigung Cockpit union is not the right one. Instead of further worsening the development opportunities for Lufthansa Classic through strikes, we should rather enter into discussions about modernization and the future size of the fleet, which will have a direct and immediate impact on the career prospects of pilots.”
The union said flights to several Middle East destinations will be excluded from the work stoppage. It said Lufthansa hasn’t made a counter proposal since the last strike on Feb. 12.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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