Black days for Lufthansa. The German airline, after having seen itself pass by the exclusive right to acquire Ita Airways of the Certares fund together with Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines, announced during the night that it had canceled 800 flights mainly on the Munich and Frankfurt hubs due to the pilots' strike of Lufthansa. The protest concerns the lack of agreement on the wage increase requested by the unions and involves about 130 passengers who have been asked not to go to the airport but to rebook their flight on another day or to take the train where possible. Sigh of relief for the subsidiaries Swiss, Austrian, Brussels ed Eurowings who are not affected by the strike.
Lufthansa pilot strike: what's going on
According to Lufthansa, the company has offered a one-time increase of 900 euros, equal to an increase of 5% for senior pilots and 18% for those entering the profession. Instead, the union had called for a 5,5% hike this year and an automatic inflation adjustment in 2023. "We fail to understand the strike call by Vereinigung Cockpit (the union representing pilots)," said Michael Niggemann, chief human resources officer and labor director of Deutsche Lufthansa, in a statement from the company.
According to the company's calculations, the union's demand would have resulted in an increase in costs for pilots of 900 million from the current 2,2 billion euros over the next two years. On 4 August, Lufthansa reached a agreement with the ground staff, which affects 20 employees. The agreement provides for a fixed increase of 200 euros per month, retroactive from July with an increase in the basic monthly salary of 2,5% from 2023 January 125, for a minimum amount of 2,5 euros and another 2023% from the first July XNUMX.
A tug of war that led the airline's stock to lose almost 4% on the Stock Exchange in mid-morning, but which quickly recovered: at 12:10 it gained 2,68% at 5,90 euros per share.
Record August for Ryanair
Different story for Ryanair. Despite the inconvenience between canceled flights, strikes and lost luggage this summer 2022, in August the Irish low-cost airline transported 16,9 million passengers, 52% more than a year ago, while the load factor, the filling factor, has risen to 96% from 82% a year ago. In the 12 months to August, 148 million passengers traveled with the air carrier compared to 44 million in the same period a year ago.
