Lufthansa is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary, and in the spirit of not straying too far from tradition, pilots at the airline are about to go on strike, causing major disruptions. This will be the second strike from pilots in around a month, and we also just saw a flight attendant strike. Ouch.
In this post:
Lufthansa pilots plan two-day industrial action
Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), the union representing Lufthansa pilots, has announced that pilots (in both the passenger and cargo division) will be going on strike from 12:01AM on Monday, April 13, 2026, until 11:59PM on Tuesday, April 14, 2026. Specifically, this applies to pilots at Lufthansa, Lufthansa CityLine, and Lufthansa Cargo. Furthermore, Eurowings pilots will be going on strike exclusively for one day, from 12:01AM until 11:59PM on April 13, 2026.
We last saw a two-day strike from pilots on March 12-13, 2026, and then we saw a flight attendant strike on April 10. So to have five days of strikes in just over a month is really rough.
These strikes impact flights departing from Germany, with the only exception being flights to & from the Middle East, given the important nature of these services. So any scheduled services to Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, will operate as planned.
Here’s what VC President Andreas Pinheiro has said about the latest strike:
“The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) feels compelled to take this step after the employers showed no discernible willingness to find a solution in several wage disputes. Despite a deliberate decision to refrain from strike action over the Easter holidays, no serious offers were forthcoming. During this time, there was neither a response nor any discernible willingness to negotiate on the part of the employers.”
“The employers always have the opportunity to avert the strike by submitting negotiable offers, A strike is always the last resort to bring movement to failed negotiations. We would have much preferred to avoid it – especially given the disruption for our passengers and our colleagues on the ground. However, the responsibility for this lies with the employers.”
Lufthansa has issued a travel advisory for flights on Monday and Tuesday, so passengers have the ability to easily rebook. The airline is advising people to check the flight status page to see if their flight will operate, and at this point most cancellations have been loaded.
What is Lufthansa’s pilots union looking for?
So, why are Lufthansa pilots going on strike? It comes down to two main reasons — first, the company pension scheme for pilots at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo, and second, the failed collective bargaining negotiations on remuneration issues at Lufthansa CityLine.
When it comes to pensions for Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo, until 2017, pilots received a traditional company pension with guaranteed payouts. At the company’s insistence, this was replaced by a capital market-financed model that falls significantly short of the previous pension level.
In the case of pay for Lufthansa CityLine pilots, since August 2025, the collective bargaining commission has been negotiating a new wage contract, but claims that a viable offer has not yet been presented. While the company submitted an offer on February 25, 2026, the union considers this offer significantly short of its demands, and unacceptable for its requirement of an absolute no-strike agreement. And in the weeks since then, no additional progress has been made.
Bottom line
Lufthansa pilots will be going on a two-day strike on Monday and Tuesday (with Eurowings pilots striking just on Monday). This is expected to impact a large number of flights departing Germany, with the exception of “essential” Middle East flights (not that many of those are operating anymore).
For mainline pilots, this strike involves delays in negotiating over pensions. Meanwhile for CityLine pilots, the issue revolves around a new contract. As you’d expect, the union says management isn’t willing to make an acceptable offer, though I imagine management would have a different narrative. This is now the third set of strikes we’ve seen at Lufthansa in around a month, so that’s pretty bad.
Any OMAAT readers flying Lufthansa in the coming days?
Why does anyone fly this airline ? Twice been effected by strikes.... Pilots, Flight Attendants, Maintenance, Ground Staff, Caterers, you name it, they all conspire to go on strike at different times... PLUS it's not just the day of the strike, before and after LH cancels flight to position and re-position. LH needs to be able to work with their unions to avoid this... Then again, why bother, so that you can enjoy the surly and terrible service on board
I've been dodging bullets for the past month. Strikes around our trip to NZ, via SIN, and now our Friday flight to EZE. If that is not enough, we are on a flight to KEF in late May. Not worried about strike then (knock on wood), but am worried about fuel issues there. Now that is one flight I do not want to miss. We have Hurtigruten 8 day cruise and explore around Iceland for...
I've been dodging bullets for the past month. Strikes around our trip to NZ, via SIN, and now our Friday flight to EZE. If that is not enough, we are on a flight to KEF in late May. Not worried about strike then (knock on wood), but am worried about fuel issues there. Now that is one flight I do not want to miss. We have Hurtigruten 8 day cruise and explore around Iceland for 8 days. That's the last trip before May next year.
I have a mixed feeling on these actions. On the one hand, Spohr, through setting up so many subsidiary airlines, screws over his employees. On the other hand, I am a customer. It's one thing waiting for new seats, but something else when long planned trips get trifled with.
Hope all goes well for you! (Ideally, pilots get what they’re looking for, and all returns to normal quickly.)
Me, too. But I am afraid that the never ending dynamic between Spohr and the unions is a permanent rupture that makes a non-strike agreement impossible.
I had my DEN-MUC ticket tomorrow canceled. On one hand, looking forward to the €600 EC 261 compensation. On the other hand, not looking forward to having to fight them for it.
For those booked on flights that remain operating, proceed with clear expectations. I travelled TATL Business during a strike and essentially nothing was loaded. A special meal was not loaded, simple cola was not loaded, same for juices and bubbly water. I was offered lots of basic water in airline pitchers (unknown origin). In another instance there was a 3 hour delay waiting for luggage at EWR.
„ At the company’s insistence, this was replaced by a capital market-financed model that falls significantly short of the previous pension level.“
Background story from someone close to the VC union: The LH pilots themselves were the ones in favour of a capital markets oriented redeployment of funds. Because on paper it showed higher returns. Greed. Now, where it simply did not turn out in their favour, they want Lufthansa to compensate for it. As...
„ At the company’s insistence, this was replaced by a capital market-financed model that falls significantly short of the previous pension level.“
Background story from someone close to the VC union: The LH pilots themselves were the ones in favour of a capital markets oriented redeployment of funds. Because on paper it showed higher returns. Greed. Now, where it simply did not turn out in their favour, they want Lufthansa to compensate for it. As a customer, As a customer, I have zero tolerance for this behaviour. A lot of HONs/SENs are reconsidering as well.
One of Spohr's arguments for having so many LH Group subsidiaries was that labor actions would only affect portions of overall operations. What he's achieved is a higher incidence of smaller labor actions. And, there will always be some element of the LH *network* that will be at risk. As the saying goes, it's no way to run a railroad.
Part of my intended text below was not posted --is this because I put something in angle brackets?
Yes, the angle brackets do no play nicely on this board; they are actually HTML tags that cause the contents of the tags to be hidden.
Yaay, here is coming another event celebrating 100 years of that makes as passengers feel valued and appreciated.