The labor court of Darmstadt has rejected an appeal by Lufthansa to end a strike by cabin workers represented by the union UFO, The Local de reports. The strike is currently scheduled to continue through midnight Friday on all flights from Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Lufthansa has cancelled 931 flights due to the strike on Wednesday, or about a third of its schedule. In all 96,000 passengers will be affected.
Reuters UK reports that Lufthansa has vowed not to back down in the dispute over pensions with UFO.
"We have to sit it out in order to safeguard our position," Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told Reuters. "We put it off for too long," he continued, adding that Lufthansa had erred in the past by giving in to striking workers.
According to a statement on the airline's website, flights from Lufthansa Group airlines Lufthansa CityLine, Germanwings, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines are not affected by the strike actions and will operate as planned.
Lufthansa is requesting that passengers who have booked through a tour operator or travel agency contact that tour operator or agency directly. Additionally, the airline has said that passengers on affected flights can rebook free of charge. Passengers whose flights have not been cancelled and are in possession of Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines or Brussels Airlines tickets for flights between November 6, 2015, and November 13, 2015, from or via Frankfurt, München or Düsseldorf, can rebook once free of charge online.
The following conditions must be observed:
- Rebooking within the same booking class
- Tickets must be issued on/before November 6, 2015
- New date of travel must be on/before February 28, 2016
- Change of origin/destination and class of service/compartment are not permitted
- For all other ticket conditions, original fare conditions apply
Travelers can check the status of their flight on LH.com. Keep visiting www.travelagentcentral.com for further updates to this developing story.