Lufthansa Prepares for Another Pilot Strike

Early Tuesday evening, Lufthansa published a special flight schedule for its Munich hub for Wednesday, September 10, on the www.LH.com website. Tuesday morning, the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots’ union announced further strike action, this time at Lufthansa’s south German hub, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday. 

This is the third walkout called by VC union during the past two weeks.

In a statement, Thomas Klühr, member of the Lufthansa German Airlines Board, Finances & Hub Munich, said: “This strike will cause severe inconveniences for our passengers, especially during the final holiday week in Bavaria amid the traditional traffic peak as many travelers return home...Tomorrow we will do everything in Munich to ease the impact on our passengers. I explicitly want to thank those pilots who will be flying tomorrow despite the walkout and thereby enabling long-haul flights from Munich to continue.”
 
Although the VC union has called all Munich pilots out on strike, intercontinental flights are unlikely to be affected as pilots have volunteered to fly despite the announced stoppage. However, delays will occur on long-haul flight departures in the afternoon. On German domestic and European routes, around 110 flights to and from Munich affecting about 13,500 passengers have been cancelled because of the walkout.
 
All passengers affected by the cancellations and who have registered their contact data with Lufthansa, are now being informed via text message or email about re-booking options on alternative connections at the Lufthansa hubs not affected by the strike action—in Frankfurt, Zurich, Vienna and Brussels. This will probably allow more than 2,000 passengers to reach their destination through another Lufthansa hub.
 
Passengers whose flights have been cancelled because of the strike can re-book or cancel their flight without charge. Tickets for flights within Germany can be exchanged for rail tickets on the www.LH.com website or one of the Lufthansa Quick Check-In machines. Passengers with a ticket on September 10 for a flight with one of the Group airlines to/from or via Munich can also re-book once, free-of-charge. In order to provide support and care to passengers, Lufthansa has mobilized all available personnel at its call centers.
 

As a precautionary measure, Lufthansa has reserved several hundred hotel rooms in Munich, and nearby, for passengers stuck at the airport. For passengers in transit but without a visa to enter Germany, Lufthansa is organizing overnight accommodation facilities in the transit area in cooperation with the FMG Airport Operator in Munich. On Wednesday, Munich airport staff will be providing strike-bound passengers with early morning refreshments, snacks and telecommunication possibilities. Mobile information stands will also be set up and capacities increased at ticket counters.