SA Passengers Stranded by Cancelled Lufthansa Flights as Pilots Go On Strike

With a strike by pilots at Lufthansa today (Friday 2 September), hundreds of the German airline’s flights have been cancelled affecting an estimated 130,000 passengers, including those from South Africa.

Passenger Liane Dickson was due to fly to Amsterdam from Johannesburg via Frankfurt, but the second leg of her flight was cancelled before she left South Africa.

Speaking to Reuters from Frankfurt airport, Liane said: “It is now 16 hours later and we have no email to say why it happened, what should we do next.”

The airline said it had cancelled about 800 flights at its main bases in Frankfurt and Munich, and was working flat out to minimise the impact of the strike.

Labour union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) had called on more than 5,000 Lufthansa pilots to stage a 24-hour walkout, saying the latest round of wage talks had failed.

Strikes and staff shortages have already forced several airlines, including Lufthansa, to cancel thousands of flights this summer, leading to long queues at major airports, frustrating people keen to start travelling again after COVID-19 lockdowns.

The VC union is demanding a 5.5% pay rise this year and automatic inflation compensation thereafter as well as better terms for entry-level pilots.

Source: Reuters