Transcript Press release - Newsroom

Frankfurt, 23 November 2016
Lufthansa implements additional special flight schedule
for Thursday and calls on VC once more to agree to
mediation
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over two thirds of all Lufthansa Group flights are taking place
Lufthansa’s station staff is caring for guests on the ground in the terminals
roughly 4,000 hotel rooms booked in the Rhine-Main area and in Munich
70,000 SMS and e-mails sent to registered customers
Tonight, on 23 November, the strike announced by pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit
began. The special flight schedule is being carried out as planned. More than two thirds of
all Lufthansa Group flights are taking place according to schedule today.
The special flight schedule for tomorrow has been enabled just now. Yesterday, VC
announced an extension of the strike by an additional 24 hours. 2,088 flights out of a total
of roughly 3,000 flights of the Lufthansa Group will be operating as planned. Tomorrow, a
total of 912 flights, including 82 intercontinental flights, will be cancelled due to the
extended strike, affecting another 115,000 passengers. Overall, more than 215,000
passengers will be affected by about 1,800 flight cancellations on the two strike days.
Lufthansa has called on VC once more to look for a joint solution to the labour dispute
instead of rushing into an additional escalation. “VC’s demand for an increase in
compensation by over 20 percent is far greater than increases other groups of employees
have received. It is not understandable why the union is demanding the biggest raise for
the group of employees that is already paid the most,” says Bettina Volkens, Chief Officer
Corporate Human Resources and Legal Affairs of Lufthansa Group.
The Group airlines Eurowings, Germanwings, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Air Dolomiti and
Brussels Airlines are not affected by the strike. The pilots of Lufthansa Cargo have also not
been called on to strike. Flights to and from Germany that are operated by Group airlines
are proceeding as scheduled. Austrian Airlines and SWISS have also increased their
capacity on flights to Germany by using larger aircraft for the time being.
For now, the station staff are focussing on the best possible care for passengers. In the
Rhine-Main and Munich areas, almost 4,000 hotel rooms have been booked for today, as
a precaution. For passengers who cannot leave the airport due to visa restrictions,
Lufthansa has set up around 400 folding cots in cooperation with Fraport. Employees are
providing the passengers in the terminals who have been affected by the strike with
beverages, snacks and telecommunication options. At the same time, information points
have been set up and the capacity at the ticket counters has been increased.
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Customers whose flights have been cancelled due to the strike have the one-time option to
transfer or cancel their booking at no cost. In addition to this, all passengers that are
travelling with the group airlines Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines
have the one-time option of transferring their booking for free, regardless of whether their
flight has been cancelled or not. On LH.com, passengers can find additional information
under ‘Current Travel Information’. For flights within Germany, there is also the option to
exchange the flight ticket for a Deutsche Bahn voucher.
Lufthansa asks all its customers to take the precaution of checking the status of their flight
on LH.com before travelling to the airport. Customers in Germany can also call our free
hotline at 0800 850 60 70 for information (free from German landlines). Lufthansa is
notifying all passengers that have provided contact information in their customer profiles of
any cancellations by e-mail or SMS. It was already possible to reach 70,000 passengers
affected today with information on the effects of the strike by SMS and e-mail.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG
Media Relations
T +49 69 696-2999
https://www.lufthansagroup.com/en/press
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