Germany’s Eurowings hit by cabin crew strike

Bloomberg

Deutsche Lufthansa AG canceled 64 flights at its Eurowings division due to a strike by cabin crew as the German carrier braces for more severe disruption on Wednesday when its mainline pilots plan to walk out.
On Tuesday, Eurowings flights to and from Dusseldorf and Hamburg were canceled due to strikes called by the flights attendants’ union Ver.di, according to the Lufthansa unit’s website. Delays may also occur, and further cancellations cannot be ruled out, Hamburg airport said on its website.
The effect of labor unrest on Lufthansa’s operations is likely to get worse with the potential for hundreds of cancellations on Wednesday. As part of a long-running dispute, Lufthansa pilots will strike on short- and long-haul services from Germany operated by the namesake brand, the Vereinigung Cockpit union said in a statement Monday. The pilot strike is the latest in a two-year standoff over remuneration, working conditions and moves to turn Eurowings into a fully fledged discount carrier with a bigger share of flights.
The last walkout by flight crew in September 2015 was halted after a court ruled it an illegal effort to influence corporate strategy, and more recent talks have been restricted to pay issues.
‘Reasonable Pay’
“The permanent refusal of management to also give cockpit crews a reasonable pay rise is not acceptable,” Vereinigung Cockpit board member Joerg Handwerg said in the release. The union warned last week that talks had broken down and dismissed Lufthansa’s offer to bring in an arbitrator.
Pilots are seeking a raise totaling about 20% for the years spanning 2012, when their current deal expired, through 2017, an average annual
increase of about 3.7%. Lufthansa has offered 2.5%, or 0.38% a year, through 2018.
Lufthansa, which has frozen pilot hiring until a new pay deal is agreed, said a strike “is not the right way” to go, especially given the offer of mediation. It pledged to re-book customers with other airlines where possible.
Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr has been dogged by unrest since taking charge in 2014. Strikes forced Lufthansa to cancel more than 16,000 flights in 2014 and 2015, burdening operating profit by 463 million euros ($523 million).
Lufthansa shares fell 0.6 percent to 12.81 euros at 9:06 a.m. in Frankfurt trading, taking the decline for the year to 12 percent.