In the middle of the peak holiday season, the pilots at Deutsche Lufthansa voted to take a tougher approach towards their employer and cleared the way for a possible strike by a large majority.

As reported by the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots' union on Sunday evening, 97.6 percent of the captains and first officers of the Lufthansa core brand and 99.3 percent of the Lufthansa cargo pilots voted for a general readiness to go on strike.

93.2 or 95.7 percent of the pilots entitled to vote took part in the ballot.

This clearly exceeded a quorum of 70 percent approval.

Timo Kotowski

Editor in Business.

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Unlike the Verdi union, which called on Lufthansa ground staff to go on an all-day warning strike after just two rounds of negotiations, the pilots, who have already completed six rounds of negotiations, do not want to go directly on strike.

However, the VC described the result of the vote as an "unmistakable signal to Lufthansa that it takes the needs of the cockpit staff seriously".

Marcel Gröls, chairman of the union's collective bargaining policy, said: "In the interests of our passengers, too, Lufthansa now needs a serious willingness to find a solution in order to jointly create creative solutions in the interests of the company and its employees." The group said it would continue to a constructive solution at the negotiating table.

The next meeting dates are fixed.

It is also about Eurowings

VC's salary demands initially sounded more moderate than Verdi's.

For ground staff, Verdi demands an immediate surcharge of 9.5 percent, but at least 350 euros per month, which would equate to an increase of 16 percent or more for lower income groups.

The pilots are initially demanding 5.5 percent, but want an increase mechanism based on inflation from 2023 onwards.

In view of the rise in inflation, Lufthansa considers this to be unsustainable.

The group also points out that 60 percent of the VC claims relate to structural issues beyond the salary premiums.

And while VC complains that Lufthansa has not yet submitted its own offer, the group complains that the union has not sufficiently specified its other points.

The union said on Sunday that it was about "aligning the remuneration system in the body of staff while at the same time increasing the attractiveness of the lower wage levels".

The behind-the-scenes discord is caused by the fact that Lufthansa is pushing ahead with the establishment of new operating units with lower remuneration structures.

The new Eurowings Discover is used for holiday flights from Frankfurt, Eurowings Europe, previously based in Vienna, is to relocate its formal headquarters to Malta, and a new unit is maturing under the project name "Cityline 2", which will provide feeder flights to Frankfurt at lower costs than the core unit Lufthansa should do.

The VC had already spoken of "tariff flight" in the past.

However, VC denies any connection between the current collective bargaining dispute and the group's plans.

In the past, Lufthansa had a pilot's strike declared illegal by a court because VC had openly complained about the expansion plans for the cheaper second brand Eurowings at the time,

Lufthansa is under pressure to curb a further increase in captain's salaries, which reach more than 200,000 euros a year for the longest-serving pilots.

In order to ensure long-term international competitiveness, the group is aiming for a return on sales of 8 percent.

Collective bargaining talks for ground staff will initially continue on Wednesday, and Verdi has ruled out warning strikes until this date.

Lufthansa would like to permanently avoid a strike like last week, which almost paralyzed operations.

In corporate circles, it is now considered possible that Lufthansa will give up the clause making part of the surcharges offered for ground staff dependent on the group flying profitably.

Lufthansa is aiming for this in 2023 anyway.