Lufthansa staffers have reportedly been at odds with the carrier for months over their union's legal status and labuor conditions, demanding better pay. According to NPR, the German company failed to reach a last-minute agreement with flight attendants. A court in Frankfurt - the city where the carrier's headquarters are located - has ruled that the strike is legal.
As a result, suspended air traffic has affected hundreds of thousands of passengers globally.
Well today has been fun, @lufthansa if you had seen my 5 year old boy crying on a video call because my flight was cancelled and I couldn’t get home maybe you would have thought twice about the strike... I fully support the reasons but the effects of this are far reaching...
— Euan Anson (@EuanAnson) November 7, 2019
#Cibtvisa sucks tomorrow 10:30 my flight to #Bangalore needs to be cancelled as it took them 3 weeks to process an eVisa! Seriously? And #Lufthansa also made my weekend suck due to cancellation of my direct flight tomorrow... grr
— Katarina Fischer (@katarinafischer) November 7, 2019
Hey, if Lufthansa cancelled your flight, they have to get you on another one.They also have to get you a hotel and feed you. @IATA and EU law. Make sure they have done it right.
— Carmen San Carlos🇪🇸 (@CarmenSanCarlos) November 7, 2019
When you get home, you are due compensation for this.
First make Lufthansa resolve your problem.
@lufthansa You cancelled my flight and sent me to Zurich where it is chaos. I fly at 7.15 in the morning the queue at the so called helpdesk is at least 1 hour so I have paid £100.25 for the Ibis Budget Hotel to have a bed after you sent me hereI expect compensation and my Hotel pic.twitter.com/ttf5CFhTrA
— Douglas Bagley (@dougbagleyfdl) November 7, 2019
The two-day strike has reportedly affected some 180,000 passengers. Lufthansa released a statement ahead of the planned walkout, slamming the actions of flight attendants.
"The Independent Flight Attendant Organisation (UFO) has called on its cabin crew to go on strike for two days on 7 and 8 November [...] Lufthansa condemns the strike call in the strongest possible terms. Affected passengers were transferred to other flights free of charge", Lufthansa said in a statement late on Wednesday.
The company also warned that a prolonged strike would cause mass flight cancellations on Friday as well, with some 600 planes to remain grounded, and urging affected passengers to "use of the self-service facilities for rebooking".
UPDATE: Lufthansa asks passengers affected by the strike to make use of the self-service facilities for own rebooking, refund of their tickets and issuing rail vouchers. Please find more information about rebooking and care costs here: https://t.co/gAMBf1DB2Y pic.twitter.com/py1gydL8D9
— Lufthansa (@lufthansa) November 7, 2019
