By Donald Wood
Lufthansa cabin crews went on strike last Friday, and the German airline announced Monday it is losing at least $10.8 million each day the work stoppage continues.
According to Reuters, the Independent Flight Attendant’s Organization (UFO) confirmed that the strike would stretch into its fourth day Tuesday, making it the longest strike in Lufthansa’s 60-year history.
The UFO labor union told workers that continuing the strike through Tuesday would impact more lucrative long-haul flights, and there is now a chance the strike will continue all the way through Friday.
The report indicates that more than 110,000 passengers at Lufthansa’s German hubs in the cities of Frankfurt, Munich and Dusseldorf were impacted by strikes, and that almost 1,000 flights were grounded on Monday alone.
A spokesman for Frankfurt Airport told Reuters, “The concrete damage will only be clear in the coming weeks when we know how many passengers claimed refunds, how many were rebooked, and how many passengers we accommodated at hotels.”
The UFO labor union also released a statement, saying, “We are very sorry that talks had to cumulate in strike action but negotiations reached a point where there was no alternative.”
Lufthansa has been negotiating with staff groups about reducing pensions in a cost-cutting effort, and it hasn’t gone well. The company lost around $139 million earlier this year when the pilots’ union went on strike.
Lufthansa’s Twitter feed is now a seemingly endless list of cancellations and complaints.
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