Lufthansa faces worst strike in decade as cabin crew members join pilots

[BERLIN] Deutsche Lufthansa is facing one of its most intense waves of labour unrest in years, threatening to disrupt its 100th anniversary celebrations and complicating efforts to improve profitability.

The Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ union called a two-day strike for Monday and Tuesday (Apr 14) just as a cabin crew walkout by the UFO union ended last week. UFO then escalated the dispute by declaring further strikes for Wednesday (Apr 15) and Thursday, resulting in four consecutive days of walkouts at Europe’s largest carrier.

The strikes have already led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights, affecting tens of thousands of passengers. That’s adding to pressure on the airline as it grapples with volatile fuel prices and broader geopolitical uncertainty affecting air travel.

The current standoff marks one of the most turbulent periods for Lufthansa in recent years. Its last prolonged stretch of consecutive strikes dates back a full decade, when pilots staged several days of walkouts. More recently, labour unrest has taken the form of shorter, repeated stoppages – including multiple strike days this month.

Lufthansa rose as mucha s 1.6 per cent in Frankfurt trading on Tuesday. The stock has lost 6.7 per cent in value this year, after gaining 36 per cent over the course of 2025.

“The renewed call for a strike by the UFO union shows in a distressing way that they are completely indifferent to the fate of our passengers and the future of Lufthansa,” Lufthansa management board member Michael Niggemann said in a statement. 

The labour tensions come at a sensitive moment as Lufthansa prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary on Wednesday, with guests expected to include German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. UFO has said it plans to stage protests around the event.

“There’s hardly a more fitting place to make it clear what this is really about,” said UFO’s chairman Joachim Vázquez Bürger. “When management, together with federal policymakers, celebrates Lufthansa’s 100th anniversary, we will make it clear right there under what conditions the employer operates.”

The walkouts follow months of stalled negotiations. The VC union is seeking higher employer pension contributions, while Lufthansa says there is limited room for increases. UFO is striking over a new collective labour agreement and a social plan for Lufthansa CityLine staff, including severance and protections as the regional unit is set to shut down.

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Lufthansa two-day pilot strike set to cancel hundreds of flights

As part of Lufthansa’s plan to boost profitability, it is shifting more short-haul flying to lower-cost units such as City Airlines and Discover, where crew costs are as much as 40 per cent lower than at the Lufthansa flagship airline. 

The industrial action is also weighing on airports. The thousands of cancelled flights are causing losses amounting to millions within a short period and hitting an industry that has yet to fully recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to airport association ADV.

“Germany is becoming increasingly less competitive as an aviation hub,” said ADV chief executive officer Ralph Beisel. “Strikes announced at short notice are exacerbating this trend and sending a disastrous signal to international airlines, investors, and logistics partners.” BLOOMBERG