UFO can continue to strike at airline

DEUTSCHE Lufthansa has lost a court bid to stop a flights attendants strike, forcing the German carrier to cancel 931 flights yesterday and raising the stakes in a dispute that has led to a record series of walkouts by cabin crew.

A labour court in Darmstadt ruled early yesterday that flight attendants’ union UFO could conduct a threeday strike at Lufthansa’s hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. Whether the union can also walk out in Dusseldorf remains open after the airline asked a second court to extend its earlier injunction through tomorrow.

Before the latest ruling, the airline cancelled yesterday’s flights at the three hubs, affecting almost 100,000 customers, after the union called for three days of strikes and said it was considering lengthening the walkout, which began last week.

Lufthansa said it “continues to hold the position that the strike demands have not been defined clearly enough … Lufthansa will decide today on further steps.”

Labour leaders are resisting Lufthansa’s efforts to restructure to compete with low-cost rivals. The airline’s strategy hinges on developing its Eurowings division into a low-cost arm, raising concerns among mainline employees.

Lufthansa’s latest offer to UFO included a one-time payment of €3,000 per employee and acceptance of the union’s demands on early retirements, but only for current workers. It said it would scale back flights, which UFO called a “provocation.

The Dusseldorf court order, which said the union had not adequately specified its demands, only covered a walkout on Tuesday. Lufthansa asked the judge to also block the union from continuing the strike in the city. The tribunal was due to hear the matter yesterday afternoon.

Lufthansa shares rose 0.3% to €13.42 in early Frankfurt trade.

The airline had been seeking the injunctions at the two labour courts to prevent more walkouts after stoppages for four of the past five days, offering to go to arbitration. Lufthansa has cancelled 1,900 flights since strikes began on Friday.

Lufthansa declined to say how much the strike had cost. In a parallel dispute with pilots, 12,800 cancellations in the 18 months to September amounted to a burden of €352m.