A two-day pilot strike began at Lufthansa on Monday, causing widespread flight cancellations at Germany's largest airport in Frankfurt am Main and at the capital's BER airport. Members of the Vereinigung Cockpit pilot union have been called to a 48-hour walkout at Lufthansa's core brand, its cargo subsidiary Lufthansa Cargo, and at Cityline. Additionally, Eurowings pilots are participating in the strike on Monday only.
Lufthansa urged passengers to check their flight status. The airline plans to have flights operated by other Lufthansa Group airlines and partner carriers. The pilots' union VC, which is demanding improvements to company pension plans, justified the strike call by citing a lack of willingness to negotiate in the current wage negotiations.
According to the union, flights from Germany to several countries in the Middle East are exempt from the strike due to "the current situation in the Middle East." The exempted destinations include Azerbaijan, Egypt, Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Vereinigung Cockpit pilot union, which is demanding improvements to occupational pension schemes, justified the strike call by citing a lack of willingness to negotiate in the current collective bargaining talks.
The VC is primarily demanding an offer for improved company pension benefits for cockpit personnel. The union also expressed its continued willingness to negotiate, stating that "the employer side has the opportunity at any time to avert the strike by putting forward negotiable offers."
This marks the third set of strikes at Lufthansa in around a month. The current action follows a two-day pilot strike on March 12-13, 2026, and a cabin crew strike on Friday, April 10, when approximately 20,000 cabin crew walked out, leading to hundreds of flight cancellations.
The strike comes just days after many Lufthansa flights were cancelled on Friday due to a cabin crew walkout. The Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation (UFO), the independent flight attendants' union, had called for that action.
According to UFO's chief negotiator Harry Jaeger, the strike participation was "gigantic," with approximately 90 percent cancellations at affected airlines. Out of approximately 1,350 planned flight movements in Frankfurt, around 580 flights were canceled, affecting approximately 72,000 passengers. Munich Airport also saw roughly 400 flight cancellations out of 940 planned movements.
The Friday strike lasted from early morning until 10:00 PM, affecting all departures from Frankfurt and Munich hubs for Lufthansa Airlines, and at subsidiary Cityline, departures from nine airports across Germany were impacted. UFO is demanding work-time relief for approximately 18,000 cabin crew members and a social plan for Cityline's 800 flight attendants, as the airline is scheduled to be shut down next year.
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