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A Discover counter in Frankfurt am Main: Short and medium-haul flights are largely taking off

Photo:

Helmut Fricke / picture alliance / dpa

Passengers of the Lufthansa subsidiary Discover Airlines have to prepare for cancellations and delays on Sunday and Monday due to a current pilot strike. A number of planned Discover flights from Frankfurt were canceled, as can be seen from the airport's online departures board on Sunday - including connections to Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Mexico and the USA. The Discover flights planned from Munich were operated by Lufthansa.

The pilots' union Verband Cockpit (VC) has called on pilots to stop working for 48 hours up to and including Monday evening. The union wants to evaluate the exact consequences over the course of the week. A high level of participation in the strike was expected.

Already the third strike

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Before the strike began, Discover said that 90 percent of the planned short and medium-haul flights were expected to take place from Frankfurt during the strike. Around 30 percent of connections should be served on long-haul routes. A total of 27 departures are planned from Frankfurt during the strike period. The ten planned departures from Munich would be operated by Lufthansa. Passengers should check their flight status as regularly as possible.

It is the third strike after a five-hour warning strike shortly before Christmas and a regular strike lasting a whole day at the end of January after the pilots voted in favor of strikes in a strike vote. VC is fighting for an initial collective agreement at the airline, which was founded two and a half years ago and operates a total of 24 aircraft. The union considers the negotiations with the employer to have failed for the time being.

It informed its members on Friday that management had not presented an improved offer in recent discussions. The company continues to adhere to the prerequisite of concluding a so-called social partnership charter before a collective agreement is reached. From the union's perspective, this would massively restrict the right to strike.

Conflicts with pilots and cabin crew

The employer criticized the new strike call. The union had been told that it would present an improved offer by February 7th, said a spokeswoman for the Lufthansa subsidiary. »The fact that the VC is now calling for a strike for the third time in just a few weeks, without waiting for the employer to make a new offer, makes it clear that this is not about good solutions for the employees, but rather other interests are being pursued ." The union did not want to comment on this allegation.

Lufthansa is currently negotiating working conditions and pay with several groups of employees in different group companies. At Discover there are conflicts with the pilots and cabin crew, who recently went on strike together - an unusual approach. At parent company Lufthansa, flight attendants and ground staff have already threatened warning strikes. In addition, labor disputes at service providers, such as those recently at security checkpoints and ground services, are restricting air traffic.

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