Lufthansa flights are facing disruption on Friday after the independent cabin crew union, Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation (UFO), called a strike affecting departures from Frankfurt am Main and Munich airports between 00.01am and 10pm due to a breakdown of negotiations over a new collective agreement.
UFO said that Lufthansa had failed to respond to the union’s demands over a period of almost five months, leaving negotiations with no viable way forward. As a result, 94% of union members voted in favour of strike action.
UFO President Joachim Vázquez Bürger said the union had deliberately held back from calling any action over the Easter holidays to minimise the impact on passengers, but acknowledged that disruption to those returning from holiday was now possible. “We sincerely regret this”, he said. In the union’s view, the situation was entirely avoidable, with responsibility lying squarely with Lufthansa for failing to table a proposal that could serve as a basis for negotiation.
As of 7am on Thursday morning, the strike has not yet caused any disruption to flights operating between Luxembourg and Frankfurt or Luxembourg and Munich.
