Lufthansa pilots strike again as standoff deepens over pay

Hundreds of Lufthansa flights were cancelled Monday as pilots kicked off a strike over pay and pensions, the latest walkout at the German aviation giant this year.

Half of all long-distance flights and two-thirds of short-haul services were cancelled at Lufthansa, the group’s main airline, on the first day of the two-day industrial action, the company said.

Pilots at its CityLine and Eurowings subsidiaries are also participating in the walkout.

Pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit said Monday afternoon that over 700 flights had been cancelled, adding in a statement that it was “ready for discussions at any time” so long as “realistic offers” were on the table.

The most recent strike by pilots took place in mid-March.

On Saturday, a Lufthansa spokesman had called the union’s demands for higher pay and pensions “absurd and unfeasible”.

But the union’s president, Andreas Pinheiro, said the airline had “shown no tangible willingness to find a solution during several rounds of negotiations”.

“Although we deliberately refrained from any strike action during the Easter holidays, no serious proposal was made,” he added.

Lufthansa cabin crews also went on strike last Friday, forcing the cancellation of around 90 percent of flights at Lufthansa and CityLine, the UFO cabin crew union said.