Lufthansa cancels 1,000 flights as pilots' strike bites

Wednesday's strikes will also see flights of low-cost carrier Germanwings cancelled

FRANKFURT: German airline Lufthansa said on Tuesday it will cancel 1,000 short- and medium-term flights to and from Germany for a second day of a two-day walkout by its pilots.

"One thousand Lufthansa flights are cancelled, 140,000 passengers will be affected," the carrier said in a statement after the pilots' union, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), announced that it was extending a strike that began early Tuesday into a second on Wednesday.

Earlier on September 7, pilots at German airline Lufthansa had said they would strike for two days this week, continuing a long-running dispute with management over early retirement provisions.

Read: Lufthansa flight has near-miss with drone near Warsaw

After announcing walkouts on long-haul passenger services on Tuesday, the pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit said on its internet site that short and medium-haul flights departing Germany "between 0001 and 2359" Wednesday would also be affected.

On Tuesday, 84 out of a total of 1,500 Lufthansa flights were cancelled, accounting for more than half of the scheduled 170 long-haul flights.

That strike, the 13th in 18 months, will only affect Lufthansa flights, the pilots' union said in a statement.

Wednesday's walkout however will include low-cost subsidiary Germanwings.

Union and management have been embroiled in a bitter dispute since April 2014 over management plans to change the pilots' early retirement arrangements.

The dispute hinges on plans by Lufthansa to scrap an arrangement under which pilots can retire at 55 and receive up to 60 per cent of their pay until they reach the statutory retirement age of 65.

Pilots are also concerned about Lufthansa's aim to further develop its low-cost activities as it faces growing competition.

Following the horrific crash of a jet belonging to Lufthansa's low-cost subsidiary Germanwings in March, the union suspended industrial action. And talks with management have resumed in recent months.

Read: Germanwings plane with 148 on board crashes in French Alps

Cockpit said on Monday that it has made substantial concessions and accused management of seeking to "smash wage-agreement structures and demolish protective mechanisms in order to weaken the union."

Lufthansa, which also owns Swiss and Austrian Airlines, has embarked on a massive reorganisation, farming out much of its domestic and medium-haul services to its low-cost airline division, Germanwings.