The pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) summoned its airline affiliates Discover Airlines subsidiary of Lufthansa to a warning strike one day before Christmas Eve. This strike will affect several flights to Spain and the Dominican Republic.
Last Saturday, December 17, all flights of the Airbus A320 and A330 fleet departing from Frankfurt and Munich were on strike between 08:00 (07:00 GMT) and 1:00 p.m. (12:00 GMT). Flights to Mallorca, La Palma, Gran Canaria, and Lanzarote to The Roman and Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), as well as flights to the US airports of Fort Myers and Tampa (USA) were affected.
The union and Discover have not communicated exactly how many passengers will be affected, according to EFE.
“Our priority is to offer all our customers the possibility of traveling,” declared a Discover spokeswoman, quoted by public television ARD. The airline plans to operate flights on the same day once the strike is over or change the reservations of its passengers to other companies.
The reason for the strike, according to the union, is the stagnation of negotiations on the first collective agreement for the pilots of the Lufthansa subsidiary, newly created in July 2021. The employers and the union had been on the verge of reaching an agreement.
However, the employer used “delaying tactics” until the last minute by again withdrawing concessions from the table and demanding new conditions for collective bargaining,” the union criticized.
The airline, for its part, spoke of “very good progress in talks” on the path to a collective agreement, with “partial agreements” already reached and “a clear intention to continue negotiations in January and reach a conclusion quickly.” », according to a spokeswoman.