FRANKFURT: Thousands of air passengers in Germany face delays and cancellations ahead of the weekend as wage talks between pilots and Lufthansa’s low-cost subsidiary Germanwings collapsed yesterday.
Just hours after pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit said its members would stage a six-hour walkout today if management did not meet its demands in negotiations on early retirement provisions, Lufthansa announced that the talks had failed.
“We regret the strike announcement by Vereinigung Cockpit,” Lufthansa said in a statement.
“A few hours before the scheduled talks were due to begin, the union announced there would be a strike if an agreement is not reached today,” said the airline’s personnel chief, Bettina Volkens.
“We’re very disappointed that a strike could not be averted. The impression we get is that a strike was already a done deal for Vereinigung Cockpit. It is not realistic to reach agreement in just one day on a new model for early retirement provisions,” Volkens said.
Germanwings said that out of the 164 flights affected, 116 would be cancelled, hitting 15,000 passengers.
“The strike will primarily affect domestic flights, where passengers have the possibility to switch to trains,” the carrier said.
AFP
