Lufthansa pilots launch a 4-day strike

February 22nd, 2010 - 10:48 pm ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt  

Lufthansa Berlin, Feb 22 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Lufthansa pilots have launched a 4-day strike that started early on Monday morning. Around 4000 pilots who work for Lufthansa AG airline are participating in the strike. Lufthansa spokeswoman Stefanie Stotz confirmed the news of the strike, which has been organized by the Cockpit pilots union. It began at midnight (2300GMT) and will last until Thursday.

The pilots for Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa’s its low-budget subsidiary, Germanwings, are also participating in the strike. They are demanding increased job security, and they also want that the German labor conditions to apply to those pilots who are hired from abroad. They think that the neighboring countries can provide cheaper pilots, so they are trying to prevent their jobs from being snatched away from them.

The airline tried to do damage control, and they immediately launched a limited flight plan, and also said that they regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers. In lieu of the strike, Lufthansa was forced to cancel hundreds of flights, as there were no pilots to fly the planes. After the announcement of the strike, Lufthansa tried to rebook their passengers on other flights, so as to save them from inconvenience. Lufthansa Airlines has around 1,800 flights daily, which also includes some 160 long-haul flights too. It is been said that the strike could cost the airline about $34 million per day.

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