The union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) announced on Tuesday that it will call for strikes against Lufthansa. The planned work stoppage will target flights of Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Passage that are scheduled to depart German airports on Thursday and Friday, and will also include Lufthansa Cityline flights on Thursday. Because of the current situation in the Middle East, flights from Germany to that region will be explicitly excluded from the strike.
VC says the action results from stalled wage negotiations over pay and pension terms. For Lufthansa Cityline the talks have failed over compensation, while for pilots at Lufthansa and its cargo subsidiary the dispute concerns the company’s pension scheme. Until 2017 pilots received a traditional pension with guaranteed payouts; the employer now wants to replace that with a capital‑market‑financed model that VC claims falls far below the previous level of benefits.
“An escalation should have been avoided if possible” VC president Andreas Pinheiro said. “But no offer has been made yet. It does not help when the other side merely signals willingness to talk but refuses to discuss substantial improvements to the pension provision”.
Negotiations have been underway since August 2025, but VC maintains that there has been no offer capable of being negotiated. Lufthansa Cityline did present a proposal on 25 February without demanding counter‑financing, but the VC rejects it as both far below expectations and unacceptable because it includes an absolute peace clause.
Group spokesperson Arne Karstens commented that the negotiations have “gone on too long without an offer”. “Seven rounds and prolonged deliberation, even a mediating offer – all of that the employer has let slip by” he added. “We will only continue talking once a negotiable offer is presented”.
