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German flag carrier Lufthansa was forced to cancel 800 flights after pilots and cabin crew walked off the job in a coordinated 24-hour strike, leaving more than 100,000 passengers stranded and bringing operations at Germany's busiest airports to a near standstill.
The work stoppage, called jointly by the German pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) and the Independent Cabin Crew Organization (UFO), began at 00:01 and is set to run until midnight. The action covers not only Lufthansa's mainline operations but also its Cityline regional subsidiary and its Cargo freight division.
The strike's heaviest impact fell on Frankfurt and Munich, Lufthansa's two principal hubs and among Europe's most critical transfer points. At Frankfurt Airport, 450 of 1,117 scheduled flights were scrapped, while Munich saw 275 cancellations out of 920 planned departures. Long queues formed across terminals as international transit passengers found themselves stuck with no connecting flights.
Union officials said participation in the strike was high and that the action was proceeding successfully.
At the heart of the dispute is a demand by VC, which represents roughly 5,000 Lufthansa pilots, for a significant increase in employer contributions to the company pension plan. The union argues that inflation and the airline's own cost-cutting programs have eroded pilots' retirement security, and that crew members have waited months for a concrete offer from management.
VC President Andreas Pinheiro struck a defiant tone, saying pilots were determined to secure improved retirement provisions. "If no new offer comes from management, tensions will continue to escalate," he said. "If we don't defend our rights, this process stops being collective bargaining and turns into collective begging."
UFO, meanwhile, is pressing for comprehensive job protections and a "social plan" for employees at CityLine, which the union says faces potential closure. Cabin crew are also resisting what they describe as attempts to lower collective bargaining standards and weaken workplace protections. Both unions have expressed alarm at the rapid expansion of lower-cost subsidiaries such as Discover and City Airlines, warning that growth in those units must not come at the expense of existing workers' rights.
UFO representative Harry Jaeger said negotiations with management had completely stalled, adding that no common ground remained.
Lufthansa's Human Resources Director Michael Niggemann criticized both the timing and scope of the strike and urged the unions to return to "constructive dialogue." Pointing to the company's loss-making 2024 financial year, Niggemann said doubling employer pension contributions, as the unions demand, was economically unfeasible. "The solution lies in reaching agreement at the table, not in locking down airports," he said.
To limit disruption, Lufthansa is coordinating additional services through subsidiaries not covered by the strike, including Eurowings, Discover, and City Airlines. Management said it expected flight operations to return to normal by Friday, but unions warned that fresh rounds of industrial action were on the horizon if their demands were not met.
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