FRANKFURT: German airline Lufthansa estimates industrial action by employees has cost the firm €250 million (US$272 million) so far this year, reported dpa news.
In an internal memo to employees on Wednesday, Chief Financial Officer Remco Steenbergen said financial burdens caused by the strikes lasted longer than the industrial action itself and included after-effects on crew rosters, aircraft schedules, and customer uncertainty.
For example, the otherwise profitable connection between Frankfurt and San Francisco had to be cancelled for an entire week. He said customers are now more reluctant to book, and if they do, they avoid the Lufthansa hubs in Frankfurt and Munich.
At the presentation of the company’s balance sheet at the beginning of March, Steenbergen had estimated the cost of strikes at €100 million.
The labour disputes at Lufthansa have been dragging on for some time. Shortly before the start of the Easter travel wave, efforts to settle – for example among cabin crew – are in full swing.
“There is a problem with money and (contract) duration,“ said Joachim Vazquez Bürger, chairman of the flight attendants’ union Ufo, after the latest round of negotiations on Wednesday.
Negotiations are to continue, he said, “but whether there will be an agreement before Easter is currently not foreseeable.”
Arbitrators are to help in the separate wage dispute involving Lufthansa ground staff. In the event of unsuccessful arbitration, the Verdi union will ballot for indefinite strikes.
In addition, there has been a wave of strikes by aviation security staff at airports. This Wednesday, representatives of the Verdi union and employers began the sixth round of collective bargaining.
“We are very willing to reach an agreement,“ said Verdi negotiator Wolfgang Pieper before the talks began.
