German flag carrier Lufthansa is cancelling around 1,800 flights today as ground crews stage a one-day strike demanding higher wages.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis time it is a strike … with a massive impact, completely excessive, that has only one aim – to position itself as a union at Lufthansa against many other unions and groups,\u201d Stefan Lauer, Lufthansa\u2019s chief personnel officer, told ARD television.<\/p>\n
150,000 passengers are expected to be affected by the cancellations, according to Lauer.<\/p>\n
The airline grounded a total of 1,755 flights today, with only about 20 of 1,650 planned European flights and 12 of 70 planned long-haul services taking off, the airline said.<\/p>\n
The strike is Germany\u2019s biggest air travel disruption since April 2010, when air travel in Europe was paralyzed by the Eyjafjallaj\u00f6kull volcano eruption, when 100,000 flights were grounded over six days.<\/p>\n
33,000 Lufthansa employees are demanding a 5.2% wage increase, compared to the 0.4-0.6% Lufthansa has offered. Their union, Verdi, is pushing for an agreement to exclude firings. Chief negotiator Christine Behle rejected Lufthansa’s offer.<\/p>\n
“For employees that is a sharp reduction in real pay and in no way acceptable,” said Behle.<\/p>\n
Lufthansa plans to restructure its employees to reach a higher efficiency. Europe\u2019s second largest airline wants to lower costs and increase sales to 2.3 billion euros ($3 billion) by 2015, a plan which includes laying off 3,500 workers.<\/p>\n