Lufthansa flights disrupted as cabin crew stage strike

Lufthansa flights were significantly disrupted on Friday as cabin crew union UFO staged a one-day strike, the airline's third work stoppage in two months, impacting operations at its Frankfurt and Munich hubs.

The strike, running from 12:01 am to 10 p.m. local time (2201 GMT Thursday to 2000 GMT Friday), affected all Lufthansa departures from major hubs, while Cityline cabin crew participated at nine other German airports. Tens of thousands of passengers will be impacted by cancellations and delays according to airport operator Fraport.

UFO stated the industrial action stems from unresolved talks over working conditions for 19,000 cabin crew and redundancy terms for around 800 staff at Cityline, the Lufthansa feeder airline that is winding down operations.

"This escalation has been a long time coming," said Harry Jaeger, who leads negotiations for UFO. "We would have very much liked to avoid it."

Fraport, the operator of Frankfurt Airport, reported about 580 flights were cancelled, affecting roughly 72,000 passengers out of 1,350 scheduled flights and 155,000 passengers expected for the day. The figures, Fraport noted, cover all airlines operating at the airport, not just Lufthansa, and may evolve as the day progresses.

Lufthansa Airlines brand chief Jens Ritter criticised the strike as "completely disproportionate," asserting, "Regulations from the past will not carry us into the future, we need to talk to the union about this." He also said the airline provides some of the best employment conditions in the sector.

Earlier strikes by Lufthansa cabin crew and pilots in February and March resulted in widespread cancellations amid ongoing labour disputes at Germany's flagship carrier.