Lufthansa to fly only 10% to 20% of schedule during Wednesday strike
German airline Lufthansa intends to fly only 10% to 20% of its original flight schedule during the strike on Wednesday by its ground staff, a spokesman told dpa on Monday.
The company expects to be able to offer 100 to 200 connections out of around 1,000 planned flights. The company spoke of more than 100,000 passengers who will have to change their plans.
Earlier on Monday, trade union Verdi called on Lufthansa's ground staff to strike on Wednesday. Airports in Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin and Dusseldorf will be affected.
The strike is scheduled to begin at 4 am on Wednesday and last until 7:10 am on Thursday.
The action is in response to ongoing Lufthansa Group-wide wage negotiations for the approximately 25,000 ground crew employees at Deutsche Lufthansa, Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cargo, among others.
An offer from the employers in the second round of negotiations on January 23 was rejected - the proposed pay increases were perceived as too low.
There have been widespread disruptions due to industrial action at German airports recently. On Thursday last week Verdi ordered security staff out on strike at several major airports.
Verdi called Thursday's strike to demand pay rises of €2.80 ($3.02) per hour for about 25,000 workers at private aviation security firms. The companies had rejected the demand as too expensive, saying it would cost €250 million a year.
Collective bargaining talks are scheduled to resume on Tuesday.
On Friday last week Verdi ground handling staff went on strike at Hamburg airport to demand a pay rise.
