Hundreds of Lufthansa Flights Grounded as Pilots and Cabin Crew Strike Over Pay and Jobs

Hundreds of Lufthansa flights will be canceled on Thursday as pilots and flight attendants stage an all-day strike over pay, retirement benefits, and job security. The action follows unresolved disputes between unions and management over cost-cutting measures. Lufthansa has advised passengers to check flight statuses, offering rebooking on partner airlines or train travel via Deutsche Bahn. Operations are expected to normalize on Friday, as the airline continues efforts to recover from financial losses recorded in 2024.

Hundreds of Lufthansa aircraft are set to remain on the ground on Thursday as pilots and flight attendants carry out an all-day strike, causing widespread disruption to the airline’s operations across its network.
The industrial action is the latest development in a long-running dispute between Lufthansa and labor unions, triggered by the airline’s efforts to cut costs and restore profitability. These measures have brought management into direct conflict with unions, which argue that workers are being asked to bear too much of the burden of the company’s financial recovery.
Lufthansa has not yet provided a precise figure for the number of flights that will be affected by the strike, initially stating only that there will be “numerous cancellations.” The uncertainty has added to passenger frustration, as travelers await confirmation on whether their flights will operate as scheduled.
Despite the scale of the strike, some services are still expected to run, particularly from major airports such as Frankfurt and Berlin. Lufthansa has indicated that operations at these hubs may be less severely affected than at smaller airports.
In a notice published on its website, the airline urged passengers to check the status of their flights before traveling to the airport, warning that last-minute changes and cancellations are likely throughout the day.
Lufthansa also said it would make efforts to accommodate affected passengers by rebooking them on flights operated by other airlines within the Lufthansa Group or on services run by partner airlines, where seats are available.
As an alternative, the company announced that passengers whose flights are canceled would be allowed to exchange their bookings for train tickets with Germany’s national rail operator, Deutsche Bahn, at no additional cost. This option is intended to help travelers reach their destinations despite the air travel disruptions.
The airline said it does not expect its flight schedule to return to normal operations until Friday, once the strike action has concluded.
The walkout involves around 4,800 pilots employed by Lufthansa and its freight subsidiary, Lufthansa Cargo. The pilots are seeking to pressure management into agreeing to higher employer contributions toward their retirement benefits, which they argue have not kept pace with rising living costs and long-term financial needs.
A strong mandate for strike action already exists, as a clear majority of members of the German pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) voted last year in favor of taking industrial action if negotiations failed.
VC president Andreas Pinheiro said the union had hoped to avoid an escalation of the dispute and stressed that it had consistently been open to dialogue. He added that the decision to strike was not taken lightly and blamed the current situation on the employer’s unwillingness to meet union demands.
Separately, the UFO union representing flight attendants has also called on its members at Lufthansa’s short-haul subsidiary, CityLine, to strike. The union says the action is in response to plans to shut down CityLine’s flight operations and what it describes as the employer’s continued refusal to negotiate a collective social plan for affected workers.
The UFO strike affects around 20,000 staff members and is taking place without a prior vote by union members, a move that has drawn attention due to its unusual nature.
Efforts to resolve the disputes through negotiations have so far proved unsuccessful. Talks between Lufthansa and the various unions have been held intermittently but have failed to produce any meaningful breakthrough.
Lufthansa’s head of human resources, Michael Niggermann, said on Wednesday that the escalation of the conflict was completely unnecessary. He argued that the unions’ demands were excessive and maintained that only constructive negotiations, rather than strike action, could lead to a lasting resolution.
Niggermann also said that Lufthansa’s core airline has no financial room to absorb the additional costs being sought by the unions, warning that such expenses could further strain the company’s finances.
Lufthansa’s main airline reported losses in 2024 and subsequently launched a recovery program known as “Turnaround,” aimed at stabilizing operations and returning the company to profitability after a difficult financial period.