Lufthansa strike grounds 1,000 flights for 134,000 passengers

Lufthansa said 92,000 passengers will be affected at Frankfurt and 42,000 in Munich

A man checks in at a Lufthansa counter at the airport in Munich, Germany, 20 October 2014. Lufthansa long-haul pilots announced they would be joining part of the industrial action planned by their short- and medium-haul colleagues over changes to their retirement plans. The long-haul pilots would walk out from 6am (0400 GMT) on 21 October to 11.59 pm, the Cockpit union said. Short- and medium-haul pilots said on October 19 they would stop work from 1pm (1100 GMT) October 20 until 11.59pm October 21. Long-haul services affected would include all Lufthansa flights on Airbus A380, A340 and A330 planes, as well as any national flights on Boeing 747s, the union said. Andreas Gebert / EPA

Lufthansa aircraft parked at the gates of the airport in Munich. The strike is the eighth this year by the Cockpit Union, which is fighting to preserve an early-retirement scheme that allow pilots to leave after 55 on generous benefits. Lufthansa wants to raise the threshold to 60. Peter Kneffel / EPA

A display showing cancelled flights due to the strike of pilots of German airline Lufthansa. Daniel Roland / AFP

A Lufthansa aircraft lands at the airport in Frankfurt. Fredrik Von Erichsen / EPA

A passenger stands in front of a German airlines Lufthansa and Germanwings sign at Duesseldorf airport. Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters

A traveller walks past empty service counters at the airport in Munich. Peter Kneffel / EPA

Passengers try to get a boarding pass for a Lufthansa flight on October 20, 2014 in Frankfurt. Thomas Lohnes / Getty Images

Passengers wait at counters due to a strike of pilots of German airline Lufthansa at the airport in Frankfurt. Daniel Roland / AFP

Passengers await their check-in for German airline Lufthansa at Munich airport on October 20, 2014. Michaela Rehle / Reuters

A flight information display reads 'Lufthansa' and 'cancelled' at Munich airport in Munich. Armin Weigel / EPA

A Lufthansa aircraft lands at the Frankfurt airport on October 20, 2014. Fredrik von Erichsen / AP Photo

Lufthansa will cancel almost all flights from its German centres in Frankfurt and Munich on Wednesday because of a strike by ground crew, exacerbating disruption to Europe’s summer travel season.

More than 1,000 flights will be grounded and the airline said the situation may run into the weekend, when travel schedules are likely to be busier.

“The early escalation of a previously constructive collective bargaining round is causing enormous damage,” said Lufthansa labour director Michael Niggemann.

The airline said the strike will force the cancellation of 678 flights at Frankfurt, 32 of them on Tuesday and the rest on Wednesday. It also is cancelling 345 flights at Munich, including 15 on Tuesday.

Lufthansa said that 92,000 passengers will be affected by the Frankfurt cancellations and 42,000 by the Munich disruption. It said those affected will be contacted on Tuesday and rebooked on alternative flights where possible but warned that “the capacities available for this are very limited.”

“Lufthansa will have to call off almost the entire flight programme at its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich for Wednesday,” Lufthansa said, adding that a knock-on effect on some flights scheduled for Thursday and Friday could not be ruled out.

The company said the strike may still lead to “individual flight cancellations or delays” on Thursday and Friday.

The walkout comes at a time when airports in Germany and across Europe are suffering disruption and long lines for security checks because of staff shortages and soaring high demand.

Weeks of travel disruption across Europe have resulted in airlines and airports blaming one another for shortages and poor preparation.

London Heathrow airport said on Tuesday that airlines need to hire ground staff more quickly to help to overcome persistent travel disruptions, warning that a cap on flights to ease the disruption might have to stay in place for at least another year

There have also been strikes by Ryanair and easyJet, with more scheduled.

The Lufthansa strike, scheduled to last from 0145 GMT on Wednesday until 0400 GMT on Thursday, comes as ground staff seek a higher pay rise than the one offered by Lufthansa.

The Verdi union, representing around 20,000 Lufthansa ground staff, is seeking a 9.5 per cent pay rise. It also wants a minimum hourly wage of €13.

The union has said management's offer so far “does not come close to compensating for inflation” which stood at 7.6 per cent in Germany last month.

Lufthansa has countered that it has offered “very substantial pay increases” amounting to more than 10 per cent for workers in the lowest wage categories, and a six per cent increase for higher-paid staff.