The second-largest airline on the territory of Europe – Deutsche Lufthansa AG revealed that the series of strikes, which have been the longest in its entire history, will result in cancellations of more than 2 000 flights over the next two days.
A spokesman of the pilot union, Joerg Handwerk, said in a telephone interview, cited by Bloomberg: “Lufthansa insists on its maximum demands and has shown absolutely no willingness to compromise.”
According to Vereinigung Cockpit union, the pilots intend to stop working in the period from 1 p.m. local time today to 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday. Lufthansa announced that the strike is expected to hurt a total of 2 150 short-haul flights, including all flights that use Airbus A380, A340, A330 and Boeing 747. The extended strikes are part of a long-lasting disagreements between the pilot union and the Germany-based company over pilots retirement benefits.
Vereinigung Cockpit union currently represents over 5 000 Lufthansa pilots. It has been trying to keep the retirement scheme, which provides pilots with the opportunity to retire at the age of 55 and receive up to 60 percent of their pay before regular pension payments start at 65. The company, however, is trying to cut costs and offers another scheme of early retirement, which cuts payments.
Thousands of flights have already been cancelled due to strikes, including 3 800 in a period of three days in April.
A total of 1 450 flights were grounded on Sunday after the union called for a strike on the next two days. As reported by Reuters, the DZ Bank analyst Dirk Schlamp commented on the situation: “A solution, however, is not yet apparent. Therefore, further strikes are possible.”
Deutsche Lufthansa AG fell 0.43% to trade at €11.62 per share by 9:42 GMT, marking a one-year loss of 21.71%. The company is valued at €5.38 billion. According to the Financial Times, the 25 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Deutsche Lufthansa AG have a median target of €14.00, with a high estimate of €22.20 and a low estimate of €11.00. The median estimate represents a 20.02% increase from the last price of €11.67.
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