German Pilots to Strike Two Days in Row, Affect Flights

Pilots of Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings are planning to go on strike for two days, in an attempt to settle a long lasting labor dispute with the Lufthansa airline over early retirement benefits, according to German “Der Spiegel” magazine.

Cockpit Association, representing German pilots, announced new strikes for Thursday and Friday. Most Germanwings departures from Germany on these days are likely to be cancelled or postponed.

Germanwings pilots have gone on strike several times, but their efforts to settle the labor dispute have recently failed. One of the key conflict points in the dispute are the conditions of retirement for Lufthansa pilots: the airline is planning to increase the age at which pilots are allowed to take early retirement and to ban such option for newly-hired pilots.

"Lufthansa thus again demonstrates the lack of readiness to compromise and is responsible for further strikes," Cockpit representative said.

The airline announced delays of Germanwings flights on its website. A special timetable will be released over the course of the day.