Early Tuesday evening, Lufthansa published a special flight schedule for its Munich hub for Wednesday, September 10, on www.LH.com after which the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots’ union announced further strike action, this time at Lufthansa’s south German hub, from 10am to 6pm on Wednesday. This is the third walkout called by VC union during the past two weeks.
“This strike will cause severe inconveniences for our passengers, especially during the final holiday week in Bavaria amid the traditional traffic peak as many travelers return home. We deeply regret that our passengers again have to bear the brunt of uncompromising measures undertaken by the VC union,” said Thomas Klühr, member of the Lufthansa board, Finances & Hub Munich.
Although the VC union has called all Munich pilots out on strike, intercontinental flights are unlikely to be affected since pilots have volunteered to fly despite the announced stoppage. However, delays will occur on long-haul flight departures in the afternoon. On German domestic and European routes, around 110 flights to and from Munich affecting about 13,500 passengers have been cancelled because of the walkout.
All passengers affected by the cancellations and who have registered their contact data with Lufthansa, are being informed via text message or email about re-booking options on alternative connections at the Lufthansa hubs not affected by the strike action— in Frankfurt, Zurich, Vienna and Brussels.. This will probably allow more than 2,000 passengers to reach their destination through another Lufthansa hub.
Passengers, whose flight has been cancelled because of the strike, can re-book or cancel their flight without charge. Tickets for flights within Germany can be exchanged for rail tickets on www.LH.com or one of the Lufthansa Quick Check-In machines. Passengers with a ticket on September 10 for a flight with one of the Group airlines to/from or via Munich can also re-book once, free-of-charge.
As a precautionary measure, Lufthansa has reserved several hundred hotel rooms in Munich, and nearby, for passengers stuck at the airport. On Wednesday, Munich airport staff will be providing strike-bound passengers with early morning refreshments, snacks and telecommunication possibilities. Mobile information stands will also be set up and capacities increased at ticket counters.
