Lufthansa faces strikes everywhere it looks – be it on the ground or inside its planes.
More than 120,000 Lufthansa passengers will be affected on Tuesday and Wednesday as the German airline’s cabin crew go on strike to fight for a 15% pay rise.
This comes less than a month after Lufthansa ground staff also left. is on strike, throwing the travel plans of more than 100,000 passengers into chaos. At the time, Verdi’s union organized a strike to push for a 12.5% wage increase as well as a lump sum payment for inflation.
However, an agreement between the ground workers’ union and Lufthansa has not yet been signed.
Now cabin crew members (represented by the German union UFO) will also go on strike, leading to the cancellation of 1,000 flights and disruption of travel for thousands of passengers at Frankfurt and Munich airports, Lufthansa said in a statement to Luck.
The strike will begin at 4am and end at 11pm on each of these days. It consists of 18,000 Lufthansa crew members and approximately 1,000 Lufthansa Cityline members. Far East reported.
The airline is helping passengers rebook tickets or offering them rail vouchers as an alternative mode of transport, an airline spokesman said.
Lufthansa’s strikes have wreaked havoc on travelers’ travel plans, but also severely damaged its business. The German carrier’s earnings report released last Thursday highlighted that the strikes would hurt its operating profit in the first quarter due to the costly labor dispute. Regarding the company’s annual target, Lufthansa said it would try to get “as close as possible” to its operating margin target of 8%. Reuters reports this. (the 2023 figure for this indicator was 7.6%).
“The uncompromising strikes by the Verdi union are harming our guests, the company and ultimately our employees,” said Michael Niggemann, Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Labor Officer at Lufthansa. in the statement along with the income statement.
“We are always open to short-term negotiations with Verdi – but we have a shared responsibility to find good solutions. “Verdi must suspend the strike and be prepared to enter into constructive negotiations without preconditions.”
The strikes are not just a setback for the major carrier: Germany’s central bank warned last month that the strikes that have hit rail services could have a negative impact on rail services. impact on German productivity how he is reeling from the economic crisis. The country’s GDP contracted 0.3% in 2023, narrowly avoiding recession.
Tailwind pushes Lufthansa forward
Despite recent disagreements with unions, Lufthansa had a strong 2023 financially.
The company has seen a surge in travel demand, helping it generate revenue of 35.4 billion euros ($38.66 billion). up to 14.5% from 2022, and its operating profit grew by 76% over the same period.
The German airline increased passenger traffic by 20% last year and also announced a dividend to its shareholders for the first time since 2019.
“The Lufthansa Group has regained its financial strength,” CEO Carsten Spohr said proudly in a statement.
The road ahead may be rocky in the near term, but Deutsche Bank expects the airline to have strong business in the second and third quarters, even if first-quarter results are impacted by factors such as strikes.
“We believe this is reasonable news from Lufthansa… the belief is that the decent earnings and cash levels of 2023 could broadly be repeated in 2024,” Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note last week.