Strike-hit Lufthansa Cancels Long-haul Flights
FRANKFURT, Germany --
Lufthansa began canceling the first international long-haul flights on Wednesday as ground and cabin crew continued their strike at Germany's biggest airline for a third day, the company said.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it canceled round trips to New York, Dallas, Chicago, Calgary, Calcutta and Dubai. The rest of the 82 flights canceled Wednesday were for destinations in Germany and Europe.
Spokeswoman Amelie Lorenz said the canceled flights accounted for about 4 percent of the airline's total flight capacity. She said affected passengers were being put on flights operated by other airlines.
The airline said it had drawn up a special schedule for German and European routes for the next five days that calls for about 90 percent of flights to take off. It said a similar plan for intercontinental flights will follow soon.
Lufthansa Chief Executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber said the cost of the strike was not yet clear.
"There are not yet measurable effects of possible further strike actions and cost burdens from the ongoing negotiations," Mayrhuber said, speaking at the company's release of second-quarter earnings Wednesday.
Chief Financial Officer Stephan Gemkow was brief but frank on the subject, admitting: "It's expensive."
The ver.di union, which represents about 50,000 ground service personnel and a small number of cabin staff, started an open-ended strike for more pay Monday.
The first day of strikes had little effect on the Cologne-based airline's flights, but approximately 70 flights were canceled Tuesday.
The union is seeking a 9.8 percent pay rise for a year, while the airline has offered 7.7 percent for 21 months including a one-time bonus payment.
Gemkow said the union and airline were not in discussions currently.
"The union isn't ready to talk to us at the moment," he said.
A top official with the Federation of German Industries urged ver.di to "show moderation and return to the negotiating table."
"The strike is damaging air transport, tourism, logistics and the whole economy - and that in a phase in which economic signals are in any case pointing downward," Werner Schnappauf said in a statement.
Harald Walter, a ver.di spokesman, said the union was compiling a cost estimate of what Lufthansa could be encountering through the strikes.
He said that, for instance, both Lufthansa Technik, the company's aircraft maintenance and repair business, and catering unit LSG SkyChefs usually do a lot of work for airlines other than Lufthansa, but that extra revenue was not coming in from outside customers during the strike.
Lufthansa Cargo spokesman Nils Haupt said cargo operations also were affected and freight to many German and European destinations was being transported by truck instead of by air.
Haupt said the cargo division was doing its best to compensate for the strike by using different internal personnel, including some from outside Germany, as well as other service companies.
Lufthansa shares closed down nearly 1.5 percent at 14.88 euros ($23.36) in Frankfurt.
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