Lufthansa pilots threaten to strike Wednesday over pay dispute

Lufthansa pilots will strike on Wednesday in support of a pay dispute, potentially affecting hundreds of flights.

The 24 hour strike, which will start at 00:01 on Wednesday November 23 and finish at 23:59 CET, will affect short and long haul Lufthansa flights. Other Lufthansa group airlines - Lufthansa CityLine, Germanwings, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines - are not affected.

A Lufthansa statement said it “regrets the inconvenience caused by the VC strike and will try to minimise the impact on its passengers.”

The airline said it would allow affected passengers to rebook their flights at no charge.

The Vereinigung Cockpit union wants a 3.66 percent average pay increase for the last five years. VC said Lufthansa has not increased pilot pay during the period and that the airline had made EUR€5 billion profit during that time.

VC rejected a Lufthansa offer in September of a one-off payment and a 4.4 percent pay rise.