Strike aborted
February 23, 2010
Lufthansa says only half of its normally scheduled flights will operate on Tuesday and it will take until Friday to get its worldwide network completely back up to speed.
On Monday evening Lufthansa and the pilots' trade union Cockpit agreed during mediation in a Frankfurt labour court to resume negotiations, with Cockpit suspending its work stoppage until March 8. Lufthansa had gone to court seeking an injunction against the strike. Cockpit called the walkout to press its demands for job security guarantees and pay rises for 4,500 pilots
The work stoppage, which had begun early on Monday, led to the cancellation of 900 flights. It was meant to continue until Thursday. Also affected were Lufthhansa's subsidiary Germanwings and Lufthansa's cargo division.
Aircraft parked, crews displaced
That left most aircraft parked at Lufthansa's hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, with crews and planes displaced from normal departure points. A Lufthansa spokesman said the airline was working at top speed to reinstate its global flight schedule.
Lufthansa spokesman Klaus Walther told ZDF German public television that extra flights would be provided on Germany's main routes - Frankfurt-Munich, Frankfurt-Berlin and Frankfurt-Hamburg. "But it will take some time before the complete network is functioning again," he said.
Germanwings said that 120 of its 160 scheduled flights would operate on Tuesday, despite the aftermath of the industrial action.
Transport minister relieved
German Transport Minister Peter Raumsauer told ZDF he was relieved that resolution efforts and suggestions he had made since last weekend had been adopted by all sides. "I now hope and demand that the negotiating parties reach a sustainable, amicable agreement and that no aircraft remains grounded," he said.
Travel clouded by controllers' strike
Meanwhile, European travellers can expect more disruption on Tuesday, due to a work stoppage by French air traffic controllers.
That stoppage is expected to hamper half the flights at Paris' Orly airport and a quarter of flights from the main Charles de Gaulle airport, according to France's aviation authority DGAC. Air France has vowed to maintain most long-haul services.
Some French provincial airports also expect cancellations.
Four French unions have called the five-day strike, from Tuesday until Saturday, to protest against government plans to merge France's air traffic control activities with those of neighbouring countries. Controllers fear the merger will end their role as French state employees. DGAC insists their status will not change.
Meanwhile, the British union Unite says 81 percent of its cabin crew members working for British Airways have voted in favour of strike action. That creates the prospect of a strike within the next 28 days, although the Easter holiday period is reported to have been ruled out.
ipj/dpa/Reuters/afp
Editor: Chuck Penfold