It sure hasn’t been a smooth few weeks at Lufthansa. In the past few weeks, we’ve seen Lufthansa ground workers go on strike on three different occasions (and counting). Now we’re seeing Lufthansa flight attendants go on strike as well…
In this post:
Details of the Lufthansa flight attendant strike
The Independent Flight Attendants Organization (UFO), which is the union representing Lufthansa flight attendants, has called on its members to engage in a strike. This includes the following flights:
- All flights departing Frankfurt (FRA) on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, from 4AM until 11PM
- All flights departing Munich (MUC) on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, from 4AM until 11PM
This strike applies to Lufthansa and Lufthansa CityLine, but doesn’t apply to other Lufthansa Group airlines, like Austrian or SWISS. It’s expected that roughly 100,000 passengers will be impacted by the strike.
Lufthansa is simply telling customers that the airline is expecting flight disruptions, and that customers whose flights are affected by the strike will receive information on cancelation and rebooking options in the coming day.
What Lufthansa flight attendants are fighting for
Over 96% of Lufthansa flight attendants voted in favor of going on strike, so what are they requesting? The union’s 19,000 members are seeking a 15% pay increase, plus a one-time €3,000 inflation compensation payment.
This strike comes just days after Lufthansa announced its 2023 financial results, whereby the airline roughly doubled its profits year-over-year, to €1.67 billion. The head of the UFO has stated that flight attendants should “be able to benefit from this success,” and also stated that the union “deeply regrets” having to do this, and asks passengers to excuse the inconvenience caused.
Negotiations have been ongoing between management and the union, but union leadership stated that no agreement has been reached, and that “management wants the situation to worsen, at passengers’ expense.”
The situation that labor groups at Lufthansa are dealing with is hardly unique, as we’re seeing flight attendants in the United States similarly trying to negotiate new contracts. The difference is that it’s much more complicated to go on strike in the United States, due to how our laws are set up.
Lufthansa really doesn’t seem to be a very reliable airline to fly with at the moment, given that there will have been four strikes over the course of just a few weeks. And worst of all, new contracts haven’t been agreed upon with either work group, so there’s no end in sight for these operational disruptions.
Bottom line
Lufthansa flight attendants are going on strike this week — all flights from Frankfurt are expected to be canceled on Tuesday, while all flights from Munich are expected to be canceled on Wednesday. Given that Lufthansa currently has two striking work groups, I wouldn’t feel very confident in any Lufthansa travel plans in the coming weeks.
Are any OMAAT readers impacted by this flight attendant strike?
Can someone with a crystal ball please look into it and tell me if there will be another Lufthansa strike NEXT Wednesday, March 20? I would really appreciate it! :) It would throw a HUGE kink in my tightly scheduled plans!! I'm doing a 6 country sweep that will get me to my 100th country! (solo 68yr female)
Good, I hope the FAs get everything they want they deserve it.
I still have no idea why this airline is constantly fawned over and looked up to as some great company when it is so poor in every aspect. If you can choose to fly with anyone, why choose them?
Lufthansa looked up to? By who? They have an image of a terrible lowcost airline among most people. People fly Lufthansa because of their network, which effectively gives them a monopoly on some routes. Not because it's a good airline.
There is a lot of fawning by a lot of aviation blogs including this one - not to mention the amount of attention given to what is an extremely poor and uncompetitive airline.
Scheduled for SAN - MUC with LH on Tuesday 12th arriving in MUC on Wednesday but question is whether this will be possible given the strike in FRA on Tuesday.. So far not been rebooked..
Do you think this will be resolved by December?
Which year?
Lufthansa is the most overrated airline on this planet. Outdated hard product, poor soft product.
A decade ago United was an abomination but now its product, though by no means world class, is still way superior to Lufthansa's product.
Add to that the high fees and now this, it easy to see why Lufthansa should be on everybody's AVOID list.
Its time for businesses to get serious about finding alternatives to Lufthansa.
Lufthansa overrated? They are well known to be a crap airline and the worst of the big 3. What they live off are hub captives and the leading network in certain regjons. That's what allows them to charge ridiculous prices for abysmal product. No one sane chooses Lufthansa voluntarily.
Recalcitrant Germans don't give a toss who they inconvenience.... I have deliberately avoided the Germans and their stinkin' airline for many years anyway so they can kiss my ass.....
Oh no, arriving int Frankfurt in first class, then Zurich and finally Ljub Does anyone have a clue if the first class lounge will be open?
The lounge should be open. But I wouldn't count on arriving to FRA in the first place if it's the strike day...
Samo
Arrive ON the 12th from sfo. So the flight we are on is on the 11th. Hope that is before the strike? On the phone with LH.
Flight 455 from SFO to FRA on the 11th is cancelled.
I am in Athens and my flights have both been canceled for the 13th. Leaving Athens to Munich, then Munich to Chicago also canceled.
Booked on SFO FRA this Monday and they cancelled. On the phone for 2 hours holding and SWISS also got booked out of the west coast until Wednesday. I asked for Air France La Premiere and they told me no also.
So will probably fly Polaris and claim my 1K Euro cabin reimbursement (award ticket)
Does anyone know if Group partner Air Dolomiti is also affected by the strike actions and work stoppages ?
No, only mainline Lufthansa staff.
WRONG!
Lufthansa as well as Lufthansa CityLine flights are effected!
12.MARCH all flightattendants, based at FRA
13.MARCH all flightattendants, based in MUC.
So better check your personal flight, as Crew might be from a different base or operated by a different Group airline.
NOT only Mainline Crews are on strike.
Very disappointing to see. These people should be thankful to have a job and show a little respect for the people who are paying their salary (otherwise known as CUSTOMERS!!!)
The usual BS comment from the uniformed. The company pays the employee the salary not the customer. I cannot stand people who use that standard bollocks you just spewed.
True but who pays the company ? Oh yeah the customers !
No customers = No Company = no staff
Lufthansa should be thankful to have the employees. I can't see how this is the staff's fault. The company is doing well and reporting large profits. This must be shared with the people who actually create that value. LH's management can't expect crews to accept real wages going down while the company's profit goes up.
The idea of employees having to be "thankful" (wtf?) is ridiculous, especially in the current job market. Employment is a...
Lufthansa should be thankful to have the employees. I can't see how this is the staff's fault. The company is doing well and reporting large profits. This must be shared with the people who actually create that value. LH's management can't expect crews to accept real wages going down while the company's profit goes up.
The idea of employees having to be "thankful" (wtf?) is ridiculous, especially in the current job market. Employment is a business deal and right now the demand exceeds supply significantly.
A company doing well should be shared with the shareholders who risk everything to capitalize the business. Employees take on no risk and earn salaries or wages no matter how well or poorly a company does. I agree the management tends to be bad but it’s because they rob shareholders. Management makes out like robber barons and shareholders are left with peanuts.
Every company has customers, so by your logic, no employees should ever strike because every strike will inconvenience those customers.
Maybe that's what you're saying, but the fact is that the right to strike has been directly responsible for a large portion of the employment law that protects workers and provides them with enough income to be customers themselves. The short-term inconvenience of striking workers is a small price to pay for better workplace conditions...
Every company has customers, so by your logic, no employees should ever strike because every strike will inconvenience those customers.
Maybe that's what you're saying, but the fact is that the right to strike has been directly responsible for a large portion of the employment law that protects workers and provides them with enough income to be customers themselves. The short-term inconvenience of striking workers is a small price to pay for better workplace conditions and pay for everyone.
Will somebody please remove Mrs Thatcher from the house?
Can someone mention the best way to rebook? Are they booking other airlines for you if asked?
No, I asked for Air France and they told me no.
They do rebook on other carriers, including AFKL, but not on La Premiere. There have been some issues with this in the past, when AF kicked rebooked pax out of LP.
I'm wondering the same thing, I couldn't get through on the chat line and also on the phone can I get through.
Either they will have rebooked you automatically or you have to use the chat bot and eventually get in line for a real person. I started at 986 and made it to 525 when I got the automated rebooking e-mail.
Lufthansa literally isn’t a functional airline at this point.
VERY T R U E ! ;-)
. . . always good, to not trust in the Lufthansa Group!
Condor its going to have a field day if this strike continues.
... at FRA, yes!
Good that way. ;-)
well deserved
Just as an outsider, werent DE salaries expected to be high? Personally, as a tourist I think Germany one of the cheapest countries in Europe...
Well, yes, but Lufthansa crews won't be comparing their wages to someone working for Aeroflot...
Lufthansa is one of the most corrupt airlines in all over Europe.
First they eliminated all competition in Germany with help from the government (airberlin, Germania, SunExpress Germany, SN Brussels Germany . . . . within just about 5 years) then tried to build there OWN (with these exact same employees, from the former competitors) low cost and lowest cost airlines for not even enough money as an income as flight crew, so secondary...
Lufthansa is one of the most corrupt airlines in all over Europe.
First they eliminated all competition in Germany with help from the government (airberlin, Germania, SunExpress Germany, SN Brussels Germany . . . . within just about 5 years) then tried to build there OWN (with these exact same employees, from the former competitors) low cost and lowest cost airlines for not even enough money as an income as flight crew, so secondary jobs were needed, while Lufthansa CEO & Co used exactly those low cost airlines (Eurowings, Discover Airlines, Eurowings Malta and by now closed down Eurowings Europe) as pressure on there own Flight Crews (Cabin & Cockpit) to force them, to fly for less income before and after the pandemic.
Lufthansa ONLY has decent saleries on there "old" Mainline staff, not the new employees and for sure not the just new and even lowest income airline of them all, Lufthansa City Airline, just taking off NEXT month, so far, with almost no staff ;-) :-) ;-)
Paying LH Mainline employees incentives, if they find people to start flying for the new and lowest cost and income airline Lufthansa City Airlines, while soon old and more expensive Lufthansa CityLine (also on strike in the next days!) will be closed down in a few years and routes taken over by much cheaper and new Lufthansa City Airlines!
See the Lufthansa Group corrupt system?
. . . maybe BEST if that airlines does NOT get ITA at all!
Lufthansa Group needs to GO for good to finally get a payback, while smaller but way more efficient airlines have space to be on the market, like CONDOR.
Lufthansa is definitely NOT a great employer!
Profit is the ONLY thing that counts, did anybody see ANY improvement for passengers in the last 5-10 years at ANY of the Lufthansa flights?
NO . . . but people are still stupid enough, believe that 5* are earned, rather then corrupt bought! ;-)
Think about it!
Lufthansa Group, MOST corruptive airlines in Europe!
I was impacted by the ver.di strike last week. Getting a hold of LH either by phone or Twitter was painful. Their new AI-based chat it did offer some solutions but not the one I wanted. The cancelled my flight 3 days in advance and I was able to leave a day earlier.
In other news, LH and OS intraeurope Econ service is pathetic. Just a bottle or glass of water and a piece of chocolate. I think most have gone this way except KL/AF
It's a great opportunity for Condor. Lufthansa is a giant that dominates most of German air travel, but Condor now has far superior hard product, better service and reliability.
I really hope Condor to take advantage of these never ending strikes of LH.
Ah…Perfect…and another trip cancelled. with the amount of compensation I received so far, I will soon be able to own a majority stake of Global Airlines
The financial results were for 2023 so the financial impact of all of these strikes has not been seen.
How have to wonder at what point, LH management sees damage being done to their business model.
And presumably that damage is happening to LH's partners, including UA.
"The head of the UFO has stated that flight attendants should “be able to benefit from this success,”"
So if the airline has a bad year in the future, they will proactively offer pay cuts, right? Right?
Your analogy is flawed.
If the flight attendants received upside in highly profitable years, then it would only follow that they received less upside in years with lower profitability and nothing in years of losses.
A pay increase is a pay increase, and is (rightfully) not tied to the swings of profit and loss year-over-year, just as salaried employee pay is not.
Do you remember the pandemic two years ago? Employees were asked to share the impact with the company. Now that the company is successful, it suddenly doesn't apply.
Flight Attendants will only resume work when at least two aircraft have the new Business Class installed. Expected sometime in 2029.
Yes, but only on the lower deck. Lets be reasonable.
How many strikes have shut down LH in the past year?
Lucky - I know you need ads to keep the operation running, but the amount of ads on the mobile site have become so bad and it is difficult to close them (trying to click on the “x” just opens a new tab to the advertisers website anyway) that I only visit your website now on the laptop with AdBlock enabled.
I have to agree. I get 5 or 6 per page.
I use the reader mode on Safari to hide all adds on the phone. I really want to support Ben but the page is just not usable anymore without the reader-mode with layers everywhere over the screen.
You can get AdBlock for your phone as well.
+1,000,000
I agree. I now us adguard on the iPhone - totally worth it and this site now runs much faster
Brave browser on laptop and mobile also automatically blocks the ads.
I agree. The ads are much more intrusive, cover more of the screen, and very difficult to “x” out of without opening a new page generated by the ad.
There are a lot of issues with this website. I get a empty black bar constantly on the bottom of pages that needs closing. Then there is the annoying pop-up videos that are a nuisance every time you open a page.
.......and the "x" button is super small it's hard to click on it on a cell phone :(
How long are shareholders gonna tolerate management's inability to maintain a reasonable level of operations? It's clear that Carsten & co. are failing at their job if they can't even reach an agreement with their front line staff.
shares are DOWN already by over 14%, just within the last month! ;-)
CEO exchanged entire board, just last week, except 1 of them and himself, being the most corrupt of them all, but reporting mayor profits, just 2 years after the pandemic, when the government (Arbeitsamt) paid for most of the employees the monthly paycheck as (Kurzarbeitergeld) . . . in other words, the German Taxpayer paid to keep that fuck Airline in...
shares are DOWN already by over 14%, just within the last month! ;-)
CEO exchanged entire board, just last week, except 1 of them and himself, being the most corrupt of them all, but reporting mayor profits, just 2 years after the pandemic, when the government (Arbeitsamt) paid for most of the employees the monthly paycheck as (Kurzarbeitergeld) . . . in other words, the German Taxpayer paid to keep that fuck Airline in the air.
Shares ate now almost as low as of 9th March2024, as it was at pandemic times! ;-)
CEO will do ANYTHING to keep shareholders in a good mood. ANYTHING!
THE World will see MANY more strike days coming in the next weeks/months involving Lufthansa Group airlines!
Be warned!
LH Share 2019: EUR22,- Pandemic: EUR 5,70 NOW: 6,60
..... Wait & see! ;-)
The good times are OVER!
Germany is turning into France.
My last two trips have been disrupted by a Db strike, BVG strike, and now Lufthansa.
In fact Air France hasn’t had any industrial action for many years now since Ben Smith and Anne Rigail became CEOs.
Icarus;
AF maybe not but all those around yes, like ATC, etc... which results in about the same for passengers.
I was making a point which was lost on you.
... week after week!
France, Italy, Greece . . but most of all, France ATC!
Germany following close to the French, when it comes to the transportation sector in the country!
That's the "new" Germany, after a change in Government, almost no competition in the transporting industry in Germany and crazy enough, trusting in 1 airline Group (LH-Group) by the former government and building a ton of low income airlines, low cost subsidiaries by exactly that 1 airline Group, same with DB.
Thanks to a low income country (except Pharma, Car industry and Banks) Germany is a low cost country!