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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Milo Boyd & Sophie Foster

Lufthansa airline pilots set to strike this Friday with UK flights cancelled

Brits travelling this week could be disrupted when pilots at German airline Lufthansa go on strike amid a wage dispute.

Families flying from German airports may find their flights are cancelled when the industrial action kicks in on Friday.

Planes affected include Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo departures at German airports on September 2 2022.

However, it has been reported that Lufthansa flights from the UK are also being cancelled.

Those looking to jet off this weekend should check their flights ahead of the strike as UK routes could be affected.

The pilots are walking out on Fridayt (Getty Images)

Karen Humphrys, from Leeds, planned to fly to Munich, Germany, on Friday for a family member's wedding, but Lufthansa has cancelled her flights just one day before departure.

The mum-of-two said: "I am bitterly disappointed. My niece's wedding has been planned for months and the stress is overwhelming.

"In the times we are living is this really the most appropriate action to be taking right now?"

The German pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) has called on its members to strike from midnight to 11.59pm.

The union are demanding a 5.5% wage increase by the end of the year as well as additional compensation above the rate of inflation by January 2023, as well as increases for sick days, annual leave and training.

Lufthansa Group claims meeting the demands would increase cockpit payroll costs from 2.2billion by more than 40% – around 900million euros – over the next two years.

Michael Niggemann, Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said: “We cannot understand VC’s call for a strike.

“The management has made a very good and socially balanced offer – despite the continuing burdens of the Covid crisis and uncertain prospects for the global economy.

“This escalation comes at the expense of many thousands of customers.”

A number of Lufthansa flights are set to jet from German airports to the UK as tourists return from holidays in the EU country.

Unless a solution is reached by the union and the airline flights on Friday could be cancelled or severely delayed.

Michael added: “We need to find solutions through negotiation.”

The company has offered a 900 euros higher base salary per month for pilots at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo pilots as well as a new perspective agreement.

This would mean an entry-level co-pilot would receive more than 18% additional basic pay over the duration of the agreement, while a captain in the final stage would get 5%.

Lufthansa also claims to have plumbed investment into job growth since 2010.

Michael noted: "We want to continue this growth with our cockpit colleagues at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo.

"We want to find solutions at the negotiating table – our offers on the collective pay agreement or also on an overall agreement including a new Perspective Agreement are a good basis for continuing talks with VC."

Lufthansa is not the only airline to be hit by industrial action this summer, with Ryanair and easyJet workers going on strike in Spain.

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