What German airline is on strike? All about the Lufthansa strike

The Lufthansa ground staff in Germany is currently on strike. The Ver.di union has called for a one-day strike affecting several airports, including Lufthansa’s main hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, as well as airports in Berlin, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne-Bonn, and Stuttgart.

This industrial action is part of negotiations for better pay, with the union seeking raises of 12.5% or at least €500 more per month for approximately 25,000 employees, including check-in, aircraft handling, maintenance, and freight staff. Such strikes are common tactics during German contract negotiations12. The recent strike is expected to impact passengers and flight schedules significantly.

Besides its own services, and owning subsidiary passenger airlines Austrian Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Brussels Airlines, and Eurowings (referred to in English by Lufthansa as its Passenger Airline Group), Deutsche Lufthansa AG owns several aviation-related companies, such as Lufthansa Technik and LSG Sky Chefs, as part of the Lufthansa Group. In total, the group has over 700 aircraft, making it one of the largest airline fleets in the world.

Lufthansa’s registered office and corporate headquarters are in Cologne. The main operations base, called Lufthansa Aviation Center, is at Lufthansa’s primary hub at Frankfurt Airport, and its secondary hub is at Munich Airport where a secondary Flight Operations Centre is maintained.