Lufthansa has made this announcement:

The strike announced by the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) for Friday 2 September in the period from 00:01 to 23:59 hrs. (Central European Summer Time; GMT +2 hrs) is having a massive impact on flight operations today – in the middle of the main return travel period at the end of the school holidays in Germany and other European countries. Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo departures at German airports are affected.

Lufthansa has to cancel 800 flights at its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich for Friday. An estimated 130,000 passengers will be affected, in view of the upcoming weekend, the end of the holidays in some parts of Europe. Lufthansa is working with joint forces to return its flight operations to a normal status as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, the effects of the strike may still lead to individual flight cancellations or delays this Saturday and Sunday.

Eurowings and Eurowings Discover are not affected by the strike call and are scheduled to operate as planned. Passengers affected by cancellations will be informed immediately today and rebooked on alternative flights if possible.

As an alternative, VC has been offered the option of allocating all or part of this volume elsewhere, for example for structural changes such as adjustments to the pay scale. In addition, the Group is offering VC the opportunity to jointly conclude a new Perspective Agreement (German: ‘Perspektivvereinbarung’ / PPV), which Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo cockpit staff a minimum fleet size.

Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:

Lufthansa is facing another pilot’s strike tomorrow (September 2) by the VC union:

The German pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) has called on its members at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo to strike from 00:01 to 23:59 CET on 2 September. This will affect Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo departures at German airports.

The airline is unable to provide more specific information on the impact of the walkouts at this time. Lufthansa will do everything possible to minimize the impact of the strike measures for its passengers. Passengers are requested to continuously check www.lufthansa.com for information regarding their flight.

Michael Niggemann, Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director of Deutsche Lufthansa AG: “We cannot understand VC’s call for a strike. The management has made a very good and socially balanced offer – despite the continuing burdens of the Covid crisis and uncertain prospects for the global economy. This escalation comes at the expense of many thousands of customers.”

Specifically, the Group has presented an offer with an 18-month term, in which pilots at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo will receive a total of 900 euros more in basic pay per month in two stages. This will benefit entry-level salaries in particular. An entry-level co-pilot will receive more than 18 percent additional basic pay over the duration of the agreement, while a captain in the final stage will receive five percent. With the agreement for the ground staff, the Group has shown that it is prepared to make significant pay increases.

As an alternative, VC has been offered the option of allocating all or part of this volume elsewhere, for example for structural changes such as adjustments to the pay scale.

In addition, the Group is offering VC the opportunity to jointly conclude a new Perspective Agreement (German: ‘Perspektivvereinbarung’ / PPV), which guarantees cockpit personnel at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo cockpit personnel a minimum fleet size.

VC demands would increase payroll costs by more than 40 percent

In contrast, VC is not only demanding a 5.5 percent wage increase by the end of the year as a first step, but also additional compensation above inflation as of January 2023. According to current estimates, this would increase the payroll cost for cockpit personnel at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo by a good 16 percent over the two-year period proposed by VC.

In addition, VC is demanding, among other things, a new pay scale with a higher base salary as well as more money, for example, for sick days, vacation or training. In addition to the 16 percent, this would increase cockpit payroll costs by a further 25 percentage points based on data from previous years. Even without taking the financial consequences of the Covid crisis into account, this is not acceptable.

In total, the demands of VC would increase cockpit payroll costs from 2.2 billion euros by probably more than 40 percent – or approximately 900 million euros – over the next two years.

Massive investments at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo for years

Nowhere in the Group has there been more investment than in job growth at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo. Since 2010, around 60 percent of all new aircraft have been deployed at these two flight operations. By 2024, the Group expects 33 new, state-of-the-art long-haul aircraft, all of which will go to Lufthansa, along with the associated jobs.

Between 2010 and the start of the Covid crisis, for example, the number of cockpit jobs at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo grew by 18 percent, and by as much as 45 percent at the Munich hub. This growth is also reflected in the recent past: since 2017 and the conclusion of the Perspective Agreement with Vereinigung Cockpit, not only have nearly 700 co-pilots been hired at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo, but also 400 already employed co-pilots have been made captains, thus developing careers. New captain positions will also be created this year – a total of 125.

“We want to continue this growth with our cockpit colleagues at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo,” says Michael Niggemann. “We want to find solutions at the negotiating table – our offers on the collective pay agreement or also on an overall agreement including a new Perspective Agreement are a good basis for continuing talks with VC.”

Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:

Lufthansa could be again facing a strike by its pilots.

The pilots, represented by the Vereinigung Cockpit union, are seeking a 5.5% pay increase according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, the company is expected to take delivery of its first Boeing 787=9 Dreamliner (D-ABPA) on August 28.

Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:

Lufthansa has released photos of its second Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner D-ABPD named “Frankfurt am Main” after its primary FRA hub.

Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery:

Shell International Petroleum Co Ltd and the Lufthansa Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for exploring the supply of SAF at airports across the globe. The parties intend to agree on a contract for a total supply volume of up to 1.8 million metric tons of SAF starting in 2024, over a term of seven years.  Such an agreement would be one of the most significant commercial SAF cooperation in the aviation sector, as well as the largest SAF commitment of both companies to date.

The cooperation would enable the Lufthansa Group to promote the availability, market ramp-up and use of SAF as an essential element for a CO₂-neutral future of aviation. The Lufthansa Group is already the largest SAF customer in Europe and aims to remain one of the world’s leading airline groups in the use of sustainable kerosene. The MoU builds on Shell’s ambition to have at least ten percent of its global aviation fuel sales as SAF by 2030.

SAF – the sustainable aviation fuel

SAF is aviation fuel that is produced without the use of fossil energy sources, such as crude oil or natural gas, and show a saving of CO₂ compared to conventional kerosene. Various production processes exist and different feedstock are available as energy sources. The current generation of SAF, which saves 80 percent CO₂ compared to conventional kerosene, is mainly produced from biogenic residues, for example from used cooking oils. In the long term, SAF can enable virtually CO₂-neutral aviation.

The Lufthansa Group has been involved in SAF research for many years, has built up an extensive network of partnerships and is driving forward the introduction of sustainable next-generation aviation fuels in particular. Special focus is placed on the forward-looking power-to-liquid and sun-to-liquid technologies, which use renewable energies or solar thermal energy as energy carriers.

By using SAF, customers of the Lufthansa Group can already fly CO₂-neutral today. In addition, they can document their reduced CO₂ emissions with audited certificates and have the CO₂ savings credited to their individual CO₂ balance.

A clear strategy for a sustainable future

The Lufthansa Group assumes responsibility for effective climate protection with a clearly defined path toward CO₂ neutrality: By 2030, the company’s own net CO₂ emissions are to be halved compared to 2019, and by 2050, the Lufthansa Group wants to achieve a neutral CO₂ balance. To this end, the company relies on accelerated fleet modernization, the continuous optimization of flight operations, the use of sustainable aviation fuels and innovative offers for its customers to make a flight CO₂-neutral.

Lufthansa aircvraft photo gallery:

Lufthansa has made this announcement:

The trade union ver.di called on the about 20,000 ground employees of Deutsche Lufthansa AG to stage a warning strike from Wednesday, July 27, 2022 at 3.45 a.m. until Thursday morning,  July 28, 2022 at 6.00 a.m.

Michael Niggemann, Member of the Executive Board Chief Officer Human Resources Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said:

“After only two days of negotiations, ver.di has announced a strike that can hardly be called a warning strike due to its breadth across all locations and its duration. This is all the more incomprehensible given that the employer side has offered high and socially balanced pay increases – despite the continuing tense economic situation for Lufthansa following the Covid crisis, high debt burdens and uncertain prospects for the global economy.

After the enormous efforts to stabilize our flight operations, this represents a renewed, substantial and unnecessary burden for our passengers and also for our employees beyond the strike day.”

Among other things, the Group has presented a package with the following components. Beginning July 1, 2022, with a term of 18 months, each employee would receive:

• an increase in basic pay of 150 euros per month as of July 1, 2022,
• a further basic pay increase of 100 euros per month as of January 1, 2023,
• an additional two-percent increase in compensation as of July 1, 2023, depending on how our business develops.

It is particularly important for Lufthansa to put a stronger focus on the lower remuneration groups. For example, for employees with a basic monthly salary of 3,000 euros before taxes, the present offer means an increase in basic salary between nine and just under eleven percent within the next 12 months.

The next round of negotiations has long been agreed upon and will take place on August 3-4, 2022.

Lufthansa, like other European airlines, is dealing with challenging times as traffic returns to near-normal levels. The airlinje issued this recommendation:

Lufthansa has reactivated its Airbus A380s with this announcement and photo on social media:

First flights from summer 2023: Lufthansa reactivates Airbus A380 due to the steep rise in customer demand.

How many A380s will take off again and which destinations will be served is still to be decided.

Lufthansa aircraft photo gallery: