Lufthansa strike hits 58.000 people
November 7, 2015
About 1,600 stranded passengers had to spend the night in Frankfurt, Lufthansa's biggest hub, because their flights were canceled due to the strike the cabin crew union started on Friday.
On Saturday, the second day of the strike, 520 flights from Frankfurt and Düsseldorf were being cancelled. According to Lufthansa, about 58.000 passengers were affected - even more than on Friday, when 290 flights were cancelled, including several intercontinental flights.
The cabin crew union, UFO, has threatened to stage more walkouts until November 13 if Lufthansa management does not make concessions. As a result, it could become the longest ever walkout at the German carrier.
The strike comes after Lufthansa and the union failed to reach an agreement in a long-running dispute over early retirement benefits and pensions.
Germany's flagship carrier is trying to negotiate with various staff groups to bring down pension costs as part of a savings drive to allow it to compete better with low-cost rivals and wealthy Gulf carriers.
Strikes by pilots have already cost Lufthansa 130 million euros ($139 million) so far this year.
das/jm (dpa, Reuters)