Lufthansa faces potential strike after pilots vote for industrial action

Germany’s Lufthansa could face a strike at its main airline after pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) said Tuesday its members had voted in favor of a walkout in a dispute over pensions.

The vote is the union’s final attempt to pressure Lufthansa into agreeing a more generous pension deal and comes just a day after the airline group held its capital markets day, presenting its plan to become more efficient.

VC said in a statement that a vast majority of members voted for a strike, but gave no timeline for the proposed industrial action.

The airline has resisted calls to strengthen pension rights and threatened to move more jobs to its cheaper subsidiaries, Discover and City Airlines.

“The focus must continue to be on answers that are compatible with the economic performance of Lufthansa Classic,” Michael Niggemann, Lufthansa’s head of human resources said in a statement.

“Our aim for the further negotiations remains to secure the future viability of the core brand Lufthansa Classic in the long term.”

Still, the threat opens the door to more costly and disruptive labor action for Lufthansa, which has already faced several labor challenges over recent years as it struggles to cut costs and pursue growth.

On Monday, it unveiled plans to cut 4,000 administrative jobs by 2030 and set higher profitability targets.