Lufthansa hit by strikes today
Lufthansa cabin crew are taking strike action at Frankfurt Airport today in a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions.
Unions only announced details about the timings and location of the strike at the last minute, meaning the airline had limited time to put contingency plans into place.
The strike started at 5am this morning and will stop at 1pm. Lufthansa plans to cancel 64 flights, 25% of its schedule from the airport, and said these would mainly be short and medium-haul flights, but also some long-haul.
"The call to strike action may lead to unscheduled flight delays and cancellations at Lufthansa," said the airline.
"Long-haul flights are the uppermost priority and, wherever possible, should not be cancelled. Nevertheless, delays must be anticipated.
"At this stage Lufthansa cannot say for sure what exact impact the strike action will have. However, it has been confirmed that neither Lufthansa Regional nor Germanwings flights will be affected."
Passengers whose flights within Germany are cancelled can travel by Deutsche Bahn (German rail) with a travel voucher which can be accessed online or at a Lufthansa check-in kiosk.
Beyond rebooking or cancellation, Lufthansa will not offer further compensation or reimbursement because the strike is considered "force majeure" by EU regulation and the company is exempt from providing compensation payment.
This means that passengers who find themselves stranded will not be given vouchers for hotels or food and they will not be able to ask to airline for compensation for these expenses.
Talks between Lufthansa and the UFO union broke down earlier this week in a 13-month row over pay and working conditions.
by Bev Fearis and Gretchen Kelly
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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