Three-day strike by Eurowings pilots over workload dispute

Pilots at discount carrier Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Eurowings) will strike for 72 hours from midnight CET on Monday after Germany’s Vereinigung Cockpit union called Eurowings’ latest offer “completely inadequate”.

The current dispute is focused “solely” on reducing pilot workloads and not on cockpit staff pay, according to a statement issued by the union late Friday. Workers “have no choice but to express their dissatisfaction with the workload at their airline through a strike and exert pressure,” said union board member Matthias Beyer.

The work stoppage will be the second strike this month by Eurowings pilots. On October 6, the airline was forced to cancel around 250 flights, half of its total daily flights to destinations in Germany and Europe.

Eurowings said the planned strike puts the carrier’s operations at risk. The work stoppage “puts the future of Eurowings Germany at risk,” Kai Duve, Eurowings director of finance and personnel, said in a statement. The union “inevitably forces Eurowings to reduce its flying activities in Germany and puts jobs at risk – not only in the cockpit”, he added.

Eurowings’ parent company, Lufthansa, is struggling with a series of strikes and a chaotic summer travel season. Last month it finally reached an agreement with its pilots to increase cockpit crew pay, preventing further strikes for about a year. The agreement does not apply to Eurowings.