Why is Lufthansa cancelling flights all around the world?

Following the cancellation of passenger and cargo flights worldwide by the German airline due to a strike action scheduled by its pilots for Friday, hundreds of Lufthansa passengers and their family members demonstrated at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport overnight (September 2).

Flights from Lufthansa’s two main hubs, Frankfurt and Munich, have been cancelled.

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A sizable crowd had gathered in front of the departure gate of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) Airport following the cancellation of a Lufthansa flight, according to news agency ANI, citing the DCP of IGI Airport, demanding a refund of their money or alternative flights for their relatives.

Why is Lufthansa cancelling their flights?

Lufthansa was accused by the union Vereinigung Cockpit on Thursday of failing to improve upon the company’s initial offer, forcing the pilots to strike in order to pursue their demands.

Lufthansa said in a statement on Thursday that it will cancel 800 flights on September 2nd, affecting “130,000 passengers.”

Lufthansa executive board member responsible for human resources Michael Niggemann called the strike “incomprehensible” and defended the airline’s “very good and socially balanced” offer to the pilots.

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According to Lufthansa, the airline provided a one-time raise of 900 euros ($900), which amounted to an 18% raise for those just entering the field and a 5% raise for senior pilots.

The union had demanded a 5.5% hike this year and a 2023 automatic boost over inflation. Additionally, the airline said that the new pay and holiday structure sought by the pilots would push up employment expenses by 40%, or roughly €900 million, over the course of two years.

It follows a strike by Lufthansa ground crew staff in July, which grounded planes and impacted passengers.

This summer, air passengers in Germany faced chaotic conditions as airports and airlines struggled with staff shortages following the lifting of pandemic restrictions.

Meanwhile, with inflation on the rise, collective wage bargaining in Europe is expected to be tense in the coming months.

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According to data released Tuesday by the federal statistics agency Destatis, German consumer prices rose 7.9 percent in the year to August.

As COVID-19 expanded in 2020 and 2021, when airline operations came to a virtual halt, many carriers offered early retirement to thousands of pilots in an effort to save expenses, creating a global pilot shortage for airlines. A large number of senior pilots have also retired as planned due to an ageing workforce, thus lowering the number of available passengers.