Status: 10/18/2022 4:24 p.m
In response to the pilots’ strike, Eurowings intends to add fewer aircraft to its fleet next year than previously planned. The Lufthansa subsidiary is also stopping the creation of new jobs.
The Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings is stopping plans to expand flight operations in Germany, citing the consequences of the pilots’ strike. The company announced that the fleet strength of 81 aircraft planned for the coming year will initially be reduced by five. The planned creation of at least 200 additional jobs at Eurowings Germany in the cockpit and in the cabin will also be stopped with immediate effect. The reason is “massive strike damage”.
Promotions to captain stopped
Pilots who are still in training today should also only receive temporary contracts. Since the demand is reduced, all promotions to the captain would also be stopped, according to Eurowings. It is the airline’s duty to “avoid millions in damage and to ensure the future viability of the entire company”.
For the second time in a short time, the pilots of Eurowings went on strike on Monday. Among other things, they demand longer rest periods. Eurowings puts the strike costs in the double-digit millions per day.
Every second flight is also canceled on Wednesday
Today, too, there were significant restrictions at Germany’s major airports due to the pilots’ strike. At Düsseldorf Airport, 84 of 160 flights were canceled, as the airport announced. At Cologne/Bonn Airport, 35 of 63 originally planned flights were canceled. There were also numerous cancellations in Stuttgart, Munich and Hamburg. About every second flight was canceled, which should affect more than 20,000 passengers.
It is assumed that on tomorrow’s third day of the strike, around half of around 500 flights will have to be canceled again, said a spokesman for Eurowings. A spokesman for the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots’ union announced that the walkout would not end prematurely. The union is also demanding shorter assignments for the around 800 cockpit employees because the staff is overworked.
Eurowings accuses the union of endangering jobs and “willfully the future of Eurowings Germany”. The relief package offered until the strike reached the “limit of what was economically justifiable”. The Cockpit Association will not go on strike with an even better offer with its “unyielding attitude”.