Talks fail as Lufthansa braces for four-day pilots strike

Frankfurt: Lufthansa, the German airline, was last night braced for a four-day strike by its pilots after last minute talks and government appeals failed to avert one of the most bitter industrial conflicts in recent Germany history.
Vereinigung Cockpit, the trade union, had called on more than 4,000 pilots to strike from midnight Sunday until midnight on Thursday in a dispute over job guarantees. Widespread disruption was expected to the schedule of Europe's largest airline by revenues. The stoppage would cost at least €25m ($34m) a day, Lufthansa said.
Contact between the two sides continued over the weekend, including a telephone call between Wolfgang Mayrhuber, Lufthansa's chief executive, and Winfried Streicher, Cockpit's president, but apparently without results. Also involved in the talks was Peter Ramsauer, federal transport minister, who pledged yesterday to "do everything to bring the two sides together and avert the strike".
The Lufthansa pilots' action, which also affects Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings, its low-cost carrier, adds to a wave of industrial unrest in the European airline sector as managers attempt to cut costs in the face of a severe downturn. British Airways faces the threat of action by its cabin crews, after only narrowly avoiding a strike before Christmas.
Lufthansa staff spent the weekend attempting to minimise the impact of this week's strike, by putting into effect an emergency timetable and by booking passengers onto partner airlines.
22/02/10 Ralph Atkins/Financial Times

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Categories: Foreign Feb 2010