Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings today warned that 900 of its flights will be affected by strike action this week.
The budget airline will be hit by a 24-hour strike, called by pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), that is set to take place between 2300 on Thursday and 2259 on Friday.
The industrial action is due to a long-running dispute over changes to the airline's retirement scheme. Lufthansa wants to change the current system in which pilots retire at 55 and retain some of their pay until they reach the state pension age. Lufthansa was hit by several pilots strikes last year (see news, October 20).
Germanwings said it is drawing up a replacement flight plan for the strike period.
A statement said: "Germanwings is trying to cover as many flights as possible with its own pilots or chartered machines of other airlines... If your flight is withdrawn you can cancel or rebook free of charge at germanwings.com or by contacting the call centre."
The carrier said passengers flying during the strike should check the status of their flight at germanwings.com/flightstatus.
VC said in a statement that its attempts to come to an agreement had failed: "Lufthansa thus demonstrates again that it does not want an agreement and is therefore responsible for more strikes."
Graham Smith
