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Travel chaos as Lufthansa pilots strike

PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle 20.10.2014 09:15
Passengers flying to and from Poland will be among those affected by a two-day strike by Lufthansa pilots.

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A man checks in at a Lufthansa counter at the airport in Munich, Germany, 20 October 2014. Lufthansa long-haul pilots announced they would be joining part of the industrial action planned by their short- and medium-haul colleagues over changes to their retirement plans: photo - Gebert Dostawca: PAP/EPA.

Pilots employed by the German airline and united in the Vereinigung Cockpit trade union will start the strike at 1 p.m. on Monday. It is due to last 35 hours, which means that it should be over by Wednesday morning.

More than 1,400 flights will be cancelled, with the protest affecting short and medium-haul flights, including connections to and from Poland.

Long-haul flights were originally scheduled to be carried out as usual, but the pilots' union said on Monday that a strike affecting those connections would be conducted on Tuesday.

The protest starts at the beginning of the German autumn school holiday. “The Vereinigung Cockpit is trying to turn Germany into a standstill nation,” Lufthansa said in a statement.

The strike will only affect passengers travelling with Lufthansa and not those who purchased tickets from other airlines belonging to the German firm, Germawings, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Lutfhansa Cargo.

Luthansa pilots are protesting against the company's plans to cut down early retirement benefits. Currently pilots may retire at the age of 55. The company wants to raise that age to 61 due to problems with financing early retirement.

Both Lufthansa and Germanwings pilots went on strike for the same reason in September this year.(kw)

Sources: Polish Radio, Deutsche Welle, Reuters

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