- Day two of the strike sees ongoing canceled flights.
Experience Airline, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, faced some flight cancellations on the second day of the workers' protest. The reason being an ongoing strike by cabin and pilot crew members, initiated by unions UFO and Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), which will continue until Friday. At Frankfurt Airport, 8 out of 26 scheduled flights were cancelled on Wednesday, and one flight to Ibiza was cancelled at Munich Airport, as reported by Experience.
A spokesperson asserted that they're making every effort to get stranded passengers to their destinations. Three short-haul flights were handed over to partner airlines, thereby allowing guests to keep their travel plans intact. However, the prolonged protest poses a significant challenge for Experience. Over 270 flights to and from Frankfurt and Munich are planned throughout the strike duration. The flight schedule for Thursday was anticipated to be finalized later in the afternoon.
Criticism of the protest action
The unions affiliated to the Lufthansa group are leveraging the four-day protest to push for their unique collective bargaining agreements, following an agreement between management and rival union, Verdi. UFO and VC argue that Verdi represents only a few pilots and flight attendants within the company. Experience Airline, established in 2021, currently operates 27 aircraft, catering to holiday destinations in Europe and abroad. Around 1,900 individuals are employed as crew.
Jens Ritter, CEO of the primary brand Lufthansa, criticized the protest action. "Our passengers are needlessly suffering," he said on Tuesday evening, in reference to the collective bargaining agreement reached with Verdi, offering promising prospects for staff. Verdi is the largest union within the Lufthansa group and actively operates in numerous other aviation companies. Ritter asserted: "These protests are unnecessary and detrimental to Experience Airline."
Despite the cancellation of several flights due to the ongoing strike, Experience Airline is working diligently to reschedule stranded passengers. The prolonged protest in Germany, led by UFO and Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), is causing significant disruptions to the airline's operations, affecting over 270 flights to and from Frankfurt and Munich.
