Lufthansa pilots strike
German pilots called a two-day strike for April 13–14 that targets Lufthansa operations at major hubs and is expected to cancel most flights out of Frankfurt and Munich. (euronews.com) The action was forecast to threaten about 80% of flights from those hubs and travel reports said roughly 500 flights could be grounded with as many as 90,000 passengers affected, while carriers and partners warned of knock-on delays across Europe. ( )
Lufthansa pilots began a two-day strike on Monday, April 13, shutting down much of the carrier’s schedule at Frankfurt and Munich. (vcockpit.de) The Vereinigung Cockpit union said the walkout runs from 12:01 a.m. on April 13 to 11:59 p.m. on April 14 for pilots at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa CityLine, with Eurowings pilots called out on April 13. (vcockpit.de) Lufthansa told passengers it would notify affected travelers by email by Sunday, April 12, and urged them to check flight status before going to the airport, rebook online or request refunds if their flights were canceled. (lufthansa.com) Reuters reported on April 11 that the union called the strike after saying Lufthansa had failed to present an acceptable offer in a pensions dispute. Deutsche Welle said on April 13 that this was the fourth strike to hit Lufthansa and some subsidiaries in 2026. (msn.com, dw.com) Frankfurt and Munich are Lufthansa’s two main hubs, so a pilot stoppage there ripples across domestic, European and long-haul routes on the same aircraft and crew rotations. Lufthansa’s disruption notice said rebookings and cancellations would be handled centrally because of the scale of the schedule changes. (lufthansa.com, simpleflying.com) Travel industry reports before the strike said Lufthansa expected 80% to 90% of flights to be affected, with roughly 500 flights at risk and tens of thousands of passengers facing disruption. Those figures were cited by passenger and trade outlets rather than Lufthansa in the material available Monday. (loyaltylobby.com, travelandtourworld.com, simpleflying.com) The strike follows a cabin crew walkout that ended only days earlier. Bloomberg and Deutsche Welle both described the pilot action as another blow to Lufthansa after a string of labor stoppages this year. (bloomberg.com, dw.com) Lufthansa’s public message on April 12 focused on rebooking, refunds and flight-status checks, not a settlement. For passengers booked through April 14, the immediate question is no longer whether there will be disruption, but which flights still operate. (lufthansa.com)
