Frankfurt — Pilots from Germany's Eurowings will vote on possible strike action at the Lufthansa subsidiary in a dispute over pay and conditions.

"A strike ballot is not a decision to strike or to break off talks. We are of course still willing to talk and would like to reach a solution through negotiations," the spokesman for the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union, Lars Frontini, said on Tuesday.

The union has already taken a similar approach at the parent company, with Lufthansa and pilots having entered confidential pay talks in a bid to avert strikes.

The Eurowings strike vote is scheduled to end on August 31, the union said, adding that collective bargaining at the lower-cost subsidiary has stalled. Little progress has been made in talks on working conditions and the firm has also not presented a negotiable offer, the VC spokesman said. The sharp increase in air traffic since the relaxation of travel restrictions following the height of the Covid-19 pandemic has put a heavy strain on a thinned-out team of pilots, he added.

A Eurowings spokesman said: "It remains our...joint mission to agree on a solution at the negotiating table."

Eurowings offers direct flights within Europe and has around 100 aircraft.

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