Lufthansa offers deal to end pilots' walkout
Germany's flagship carrier Lufthansa has offered its striking pilots a new pay rise deal in the hope that the days of a walkout that has cost the company tens of millions of euros in losses will end.
Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it could increase the pilots' pay by 4.4 percent plus a one-off payment. The company said no other conditions will be linked to the raise.
Lufthansa board member Harry Hohmeister said in a statement that the offer was an urgent measure to avoid any further damage to the company, which has seen about 4,500 of its flights, mostly short- and medium-haul, grounded over the past week. The cancellations have reportedly affected more than half a million passengers.
Lufthansa scrapped 890 flights on Wednesday, leaving about 98,000 people stranded across Germany.
A similar offer at the weekend failed to convince Cockpit, the union representing the pilots, to end the walkout as Lufthansa had tied it to changes to pensions that the pilots deemed unacceptable.
Lufthansa said at least 40 flights would be cancelled on Thursday, even as the pilots returned to work.
The midweek cancellations come after a two-day pause to the walkout. The cancellations have also affected some long-haul services.
The pilots began the strike last week, the 14th in two years, insisting on their old request for a 3.66-percent pay raise per year. They also wanted the increase to apply to the past five years, saying Lufthansa's policy of freezing the wages had cost them dearly while the company had booked billions in profits. Lufthansa rejects the profit claims, saying the wage freeze has been part of its broader policy to reduce costs amid increasing competition with airlines offering cheaper services.
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