Lufthansa: freighter flights unaffected by tomorrow’s strike

Lufthansa expects more than half of all long-haul flights and all cargo flights to go-ahead as planned tomorrow despite a pilot strike.
The German airline group said that 84 out of a total of 170 long-haul flights and all seven planned cargo flights will operate tomorrow.
This comes despite the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union today announcing that industrial action by its members tomorrow would affect all Airbus 380, A330 and A340 and Boeing 747 flights and all flights by Lufthansa Cargo from Germany on long-haul routes.
In a statement, the airline said: “With a relatively large number of cockpit personnel indicating their willingness to fly, the airline will be able to operate more than half of its intercontinental passenger services despite the VC’s strike call.
“The willingness of many pilots to work despite the strike call will also permit all seven scheduled cargo flights for Tuesday to be performed. Lufthansa Cargo will thus be able to maintain its full flight programme.”
A small number of inbound intercontinental flights to Frankfurt, Munich and Düsseldorf will also have to be cancelled today, to “ensure that flight operations can resume as smoothly as possible on Wednesday after the strike”, Lufthansa said.
The strike is due to start at 08:00 tomorrow morning and will finish at midnight.
The industrial action was announced after talks between pilot and airline representatives over measures aimed at reducing costs collapsed last week.
The union, which represents 5,000 Lufthansa and Germanwings pilots, said its members were not against cost reduction measures but wanted to stop the employment of staff on non-German contracts and job losses.
It also pointed out that the airline had recorded its best ever summer.