Status: 19.10.2022 2:43 p.m
Around 300 of the planned 500 Eurowings flights were canceled on the last day of the pilots’ strike. Due to the tight capacities of the partner airlines, the offer was lower than usual. From Thursday, operations should be back to schedule.
According to the company, around 300 flights were canceled on Wednesday because of the pilot strike at Eurowings. That’s almost two-thirds of the 500 take-offs and landings actually planned for the entire Eurowings program, said a spokesman for the airline.
Compared to previous days, the airline was able to offer fewer flights than hoped. According to the statement, this depends on the lower alternative capacities of various partner airlines, which Eurowings had resorted to during the strike.
The end of the wage conflict is still a long way off
In the labor dispute over relief for the pilots, it was the third and last day of the strike for the time being. “We assume that we can offer normal flight operations on Thursday,” said the airline spokesman. Passengers who have booked a flight tomorrow need not worry. From 12:01 a.m. – shortly after the end of the strike – traffic is scheduled to run again. A spokesman for the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots’ union said the work stoppages planned for this week will end at midnight.
However, the bitter wage conflict is far from being resolved, which is why there is a risk of renewed strikes and cancellations in the flight schedule in the coming weeks.
Eurowings puts growth plans for 2023 on hold
The union insists on improvements in working conditions and considers the employer’s most recent offer to be insufficient. Among other things, they offered ten additional days off per year, but VC wants 14. Management is willing to reduce the maximum weekly working time by three to 52 hours, and VC is demanding five hours less.
According to the company, every day of the strike costs the airline a double-digit million euro amount. Because of these unscheduled costs, the management of Eurowings Germany put its growth plans for the coming year on hold – the fleet should be smaller than previously planned and there should not be any new appointments for the cockpit and cabin for the time being.