Lufthansa (Frankfurt) is again dealing with another strike day today (September 10) by its pilots, represented by the Vereinigung Cockpit union. This time the target is the Munich hub. The airline issued this statement:

Strike by pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit on September 10 at Munich Airport

The pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit has announced a strike for flights to and from Lufthansa’s Munich hub scheduled for today, September 10, in the time from 10.00 to 18.00 CEST.

Lufthansa flight operations will be heavily affected by the strike, especially flights departing from and arriving in Munich. All Lufthansa flights to and from the Frankfurt hub will presumably operate as scheduled.

Please note also that all flights of our Lufthansa Group airlines; Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Germanwings and Swiss (operated by OS, SN, 4U, LX) as well as flights of Air Dolomiti will operate as scheduled.

Affected flights

Passengers are kindly requested to check the status of their flight prior to departure. Passengers whose flights are operating are kindly requested to come to the airport in good time.

Check cancelled flights under Cancelled flights

Train voucher

Passengers travelling within Germany whose flights have been cancelled due to the strike may alternatively travel by train with Deutsche Bahn.

To do this, please exchange your etix for a train ticket online or mobile under My bookings or at a Lufthansa check in machine.

If you do not have the time to exchange your ticket online or at the machine, we recommend you purchase a regular train ticket. Please contact your ticket issuing office after your travel for a refund of your unused ticket. You can receive current travel information under Deutsche Bahn or on your mobile phone via m.bahn.de.

Rebooking

In case your flight is not affected and you’re holding a Lufthansa/SWISS/Austrian Airlines/Brussels Airlines ticket for flights on September 10th, 2014 from/to/via Munich you can rebook your ticket once free of charge at My Bookings. The following conditions must be met:

Rebooking within the original fare.

– Tickets must be issued on/before Semptember 9th, 2014
– The new date of travel must be on/before December 10th, 2014
– Origin / Destination and compartment must remain the same
– All other fare conditions must be observed

Passengers, who are unable to use the self-service facilities, can contact our Service Center on 0800 850 60 70* or via one of our local phone numbers.

Lost baggage

In order to deliver your baggage please fill in our Online Baggage Form or please contact the Lufthansa baggage tracing counter as soon as you arrive at your destination. For status updates on your missing baggage please go to Lufthansa baggage tracing online.
Check here for further information on baggage liability.

Lufthansa regrets any inconvenience to Lufthansa passengers caused by the threatened strike measures by the pilots union VC and will do its utmost to minimize impacts on passengers. Passenger support and service has paramount priority.

In other news, Lufthansa is changing its takeoff procedures across Germany:

In the twelve months since August 2013, Lufthansa has been carrying out trials on the noise emissions produced by the 1,000 foot acceleration procedure. In the new procedure, the aircraft leaving the west runway at Frankfurt Airport reduced the altitude for acceleration and additional thrust from 1,500 feet (approx. 457 meters) to 1,000 feet (approx. 305 meters) where allowed by local restrictions on the departure flight path. During the world’s biggest examination of take-off noise, the measuring stations recorded over 70,000 Lufthansa take-offs. This represents more than half of all the airline’s departures in Frankfurt. The data were analyzed by Forum Flughafen and the local region, which could not identify any significant changes in noise emissions as a result of the modified take-off procedure. The measurements support the existing detailed calculations carried out as part of a scientific study by Lufthansa, TU Berlin and the German Aerospace Center. On this basis Lufthansa has now decided to introduce the modified take-off procedure nationwide as of today and so to implement this established global standard worldwide. Many other airlines have been using this take-off procedure for years, making it common practice already at most German and international airports, because the related fuel consumption and carbon emissions are much lower. The change in the acceleration altitude to 1,000 feet took place in accordance with the standards laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Lufthansa obtained permission to modify its procedure from the German Federal Aviation Authority and the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) some time ago.

What does 1000-foot acceleration mean?

After an aircraft takes off from the runway, it usually ascends at a constant speed with the flaps extended until it reaches a certain altitude. Modern aircraft generally do not use the maximum thrust available at this point, but rather a reduced level of take-off thrust. When the aircraft reaches an initial target altitude, the engines’ thrust switches to climb thrust. As the aircraft continues to take off, it has to accelerate so that the flaps can be retracted and it can climb to its cruising altitude at a higher speed. The altitude at which the speed increase begins is called the acceleration altitude. By changing these two altitudes, the wind resistance decreases when the flaps are retracted, thus lowering fuel consumption. Lufthansa believes that changing the procedure in Germany alone would save around 3,000 tonnes of fuel per year. This would mean around 10,000 tonnes fewer CO2 emissions. The benefit for the environment is much greater worldwide: approx. 6,000 tons less kerosene, or around 19,000 tons less CO2.

Copyright Photo: Arnd Wolf/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A319-114 D-AILU (msn) with the special Lulu Stork marking taxies at the Munich hub.

Lufthansa: