Lufthansa pilots had instigated a one-day strike last Friday, September 2nd. The pilot strike has come on the
back of failed pay talks and resulted in the cancellation of approximately 800 flights, which affected 130,000 passengers, while also disrupting cargo services. Flight cancellations affected both Frankfurt and Munich Airports. The pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) is demanding a 5.5% pay rise this year for its more than 5,000 pilots and automatic inflation compensation thereafter. Lufthansa had offered a total of €900 more in basic pay per month in two stages over an 18-month term plus an agreement guaranteeing cockpit staff a minimum fleet size.
A further blow to Lufthansa was dealt by Germany's cartel office which has announced that Lufthansa has been prohibited from ending existing long-term cooperation agreements with Condor, a charter airline, until further notice, advising that the national carrier was impeding Condor from competing on long-haul routes. However, Lufthansa has chosen not to accept the cartel office's decision and according to the carrier: “… we do not share the Bundeskartellamt's view and will therefore submit the decision to a judicial review.”
