Pilots at Germany’s major carriers Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and subsidiary Eurowings began a 48-hour strike on Monday morning. The airline is also facing work disruption for cabin crew just after the pilots’ strike ended.
Lufthansa is struggling to negotiate terms with both the pilots’ trade union Vereinigung Cockpit and the UFO Cabin Crew union, which just last week called on members to strike.
On Monday afternoon, UFO said it had called on its members to strike again on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, meaning Lufthansa could face four consecutive days of disruption.
Hundreds of flights were canceled on Monday at the major hubs of Frankfurt and Munich in the fourth strike of 2026 at the airline.
Middle Eastern flights have been exempted from the strike amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and the Gulf.
Which flights and services were going to be affected by the strike?
Frankfurt Airport Home PageMost of Lufthansa’s departures within Europe, Germany’s busiest, were canceled on Monday.
In its place many domestic German flights were shown as replacement rail services.
“As a result of the strike at Lufthansa by the pilots’ trade union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), there will be delays and cancellations of Lufthansa flights throughout the day on April 13 and 14 at Frankfurt Airport,” Hub said in a statement.
Next busiest airport, MunichIt appears to still be showing scheduled flights in its departures search window. But it included warnings to Lufthansa and Eurowings passengers of serious disruptions related to the strike, telling them to check with their providers for news of cancellations.
Eurowings pilots are striking only on Monday, not Tuesday, while Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo pilots with the cockpit union have been asked to strike for two days. Eurowings said on Sunday it expected to be able to continue a “large proportion” of air services despite the strike.
Not all Lufthansa Airlines pilots are VC members and full participation in the strike is not guaranteed.
Middle Eastern flights exempted amid Iran and Gulf conflict
The VC union said it would not strike flights that are still able to depart to many destinations in the Middle East, as travel remains uncertain for more than a month due to the conflict in Iran and the wider region.
According to the VC, Lufthansa and Lufthansa CityLine flights from Germany to Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen will be exempted from the strike action.
What did the airline and union say about the latest strike?
“Lufthansa is working intensively to keep the impact on our passengers as low as possible. We are striving to operate as many flights as possible by other airlines and partner airlines within the Lufthansa Group,” Lufthansa said on its website.
It also advised passengers whose flights were completely canceled that they could exchange their tickets for Deutsche Bahn rail tickets.
The pilots’ strike focuses on pay disputes, including the company’s pension scheme and remuneration at regional subsidiary Cityline.
VC’s decision to strike came days after the airline announced an agreement with rival trade union Verdi for both pilots and ground staff, as its negotiations with specialist unions VC and UFO repeatedly turned into strikes.
It said the union’s main demand “to double the already above-average and excellent company pension scheme is absurd and incomplete.”
Meanwhile, the VC placed much of the blame on Lufthansa.
“The Vereinigung Cockpit considers itself forced to take this step after the employer has shown no recognizable willingness to seek resolution in several pay disputes,” said VC president Andreas Pinheiro. “Despite deliberately avoiding strike action over the Easter bank holiday, proposals worth taking seriously are still not forthcoming. There was no response nor recognizable indication from the employer at this time of a willingness to negotiate.”
Cabin crew will also follow suit and strike again on Wednesday, Thursday
On Monday evening, the UFO trade union announced its latest strike would take place immediately after cockpit members returned to work.
It said the strike would last for two days, starting Wednesday midnight and ending at 11:59 pm Thursday.
Harry Jagger, chief UFO negotiator, said, “The attack on Friday was a clear signal.” “If the employer doesn’t respond to this, the signal will certainly intensify.”
Jagger said the high member participation on Friday “impressed us greatly – and shows very clearly that the cabin crew will not allow themselves to be played for fools.” He accused Lufthansa of “taking a radical stance”.
VC and UFOs have already coordinated to attack at the same time once this year. Assuming this week’s strike plan holds, by the end of Thursday, Lufthansa will have faced five consecutive workdays of strike action from one of the two unions.
Edited by: Louis Olofse