Hundreds of Lufthansa Flights Canceled Over Workers Strike
Technology

Hundreds of Lufthansa Flights Canceled Over Workers Strike

Brian Viner

One of the biggest European airline Lufthansa has been forced to cancel over 1,300 flights amidst workers strike. The strike called by thousands of the carrier’s workers, which lasted from Thursday to Friday, has upset the traveling plans of over 200,000 of its customers.

The strike called by the union of flight attendants resulted in the grounding of about 700 flights on November 7 and 600 on November 8. According to a CNN report, the company has indicated for a possible recommencement of services starting Saturday. The company has expressed criticism of the strike and apologized for the inconvenience this might have caused to the passengers. The striking flight attendants’ union Independent Flight Attendants Organization (UFO) is reportedly concerned over their salary, working conditions, pensions, etc.

Rob Schmitz, who was reporting on the incident, told NPR’s Newscast on Thursday that “Lufthansa and the union representing the flight attendants have been at odds for months over the union’s legal status, and a last-minute effort by the airline to halt the strike failed after a court in Frankfurt confirmed the walkout was legal.” The German airline is giving its customers the option of rebooking with Lufthansa again within a span of 10 days. The biggest airline in Germany boasts of a fleet of about 350 airplanes and a workforce consisting of about 135,000 employees.

UFO released a statement prior to going on strike in which it talked about the company’s failure to avoid the strike-through a collaborative attempt. The union said in the statement that “Instead of averting the strike, plans were changed on a massive scale and additional standby services were acquired for the day of the strike.” A similar strike was called earlier this year by pilots working at the British Airways.