Strike begins at Lufthansa's Discover

The Verband Cockpit (VC) and UFO unions have called on the airline's crew to go on strike for four days. Flight cancellations and delays are expected.

At Lufthansa subsidiary Discover Airlines, pilot and cabin crew strikes began at the end of the holiday season. This means that passengers will face delays and flight cancellations, the extent of which cannot yet be predicted. The Verband Cockpit (VC) and UFO unions have called on the airline's crew to go on strike for four days, lasting until Friday. All departures from Germany are affected, with the first flights scheduled for the morning.

A UFO spokesman confirmed the strike began that night. Discover Airlines said it was working to keep the impact on passengers to a minimum and to offer as many flights as possible. Passengers should check their flight status regularly and provide contact details in their booking. It said around 270 flights on short, medium and long-haul routes from Frankfurt and Munich were scheduled to operate during the four-day strike.

The company did not initially provide a figure for the expected flight cancellations. The UFO union expects Lufthansa to mitigate the effects of the strike by redistributing flights among other group companies. The holiday airline Discover Airlines, founded in 2021, has 27 aircraft flying to holiday destinations in Europe and beyond. It employs around 1,900 people.

Conflict with the Union

The industrial action is due to a conflict with the Verdi union, which has signed the first collective agreements for Discover pilots and flight attendants at the startup airline. In addition to regular wage increases for both professional groups of between 16 and 38 percent by the end of 2027, the Verdi contract includes regulations on allowances and working hours, company pension plans or assistance in case you lose your pilot’s license.

The content of the UFO and VC demands does not differ much from the agreement with Verdi, but the sector unions want to enforce their own collective bargaining agreements. They believe that Verdi does not have enough members in its flight operations and has been used by Lufthansa management as a partner in collective bargaining. For the VC and UFO unions, it is also about influencing Lufthansa’s parent company, which has strong roots in collective bargaining.

VC pilots have already gone on strike several times this winter. The UFO has also called on its members to stop working in order to force negotiations. (APA/dpa)