Lufthansa walkouts: almost 1,000 flights canceled

Lufthansa’s April walkouts grounded large parts of its German network, with hundreds of flights scrapped at Frankfurt and Munich and disruption spilling into regional airports. (lufthansa.com) The first big stoppage hit on Friday, April 10, when the cabin-crew union UFO called a strike from 12:01 a.m. to 10 p.m. for Lufthansa departures from Frankfurt and Munich and for Lufthansa CityLine departures from nine airports, including Hamburg, Berlin and Hanover. (ufo-online.aero 1) (ufo-online.aero 2) Reuters reported that Fraport, the operator of Frankfurt Airport, counted about 580 cancellations by Friday morning out of 1,350 scheduled flights, affecting roughly 72,000 passengers. Lufthansa said Munich was also hit, while CityLine cabin crew walked out at airports across Germany. (usnews.com) (theindependent.co.uk) The disruption then stretched through the week of April 13. Lufthansa posted travel alerts for strike-related schedule restrictions from Monday, April 13, through Friday, April 17, tied to calls by the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit and the cabin-crew union UFO. (lufthansa.com) On Monday, April 13, AFP reported that Lufthansa canceled half of its long-haul flights and two-thirds of its short-haul services on the first day of a two-day pilots’ strike. The pilots’ union said more than 700 flights were canceled that day. (france24.com) UFO then announced another cabin-crew stoppage for Wednesday, April 15, and Thursday, April 16, covering all Lufthansa Group departures from Frankfurt and Munich and CityLine departures from additional airports. The union said the dispute centered on working conditions, limits on overwork, and longer notice periods before layoffs. (france24.com) (ufo-online.aero) The labor fight is also tied to Lufthansa’s restructuring of its short-haul business. Reuters reported that Lufthansa plans to close CityLine by the end of 2026 and shift feeder flying to Lufthansa City Airlines, a newer subsidiary created as a lower-cost alternative. (usnews.com) That plan has sharpened the conflict with CityLine staff. UFO said Lufthansa CityLine’s planned shutdown could have “existential” consequences for about 800 cabin employees and accused management of refusing to negotiate a collective social plan. (ufo-online.aero) Lufthansa has condemned the walkouts and told passengers to expect automatic rebooking, refunds, or, on some routes, conversion of canceled tickets into Deutsche Bahn rail tickets. The airline also said passengers may have rights under European Union Regulation 261 if flights are canceled or significantly delayed. (lufthansa.com 1) (lufthansa.com 2) By April 17, Lufthansa was still warning customers to check flight status before heading to the airport, a sign that the damage from a one-day strike had turned into a week of rolling disruption across the group’s main hubs. (lufthansa.com)