Lufthansa Criticizes Upcoming Pilots Strike as Unnecessary Escalation

Lufthansa's Response to Pilots Strike

BERLIN, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Germany's largest airline group Lufthansa criticised unions for a walkout planned on Thursday, saying its namesake core airline has no financial leeway to meet the demands.

Union Demands and Financial Constraints

The all-day strike will potentially affect tens of thousands of passengers and is a sign of Lufthansa's long-simmering conflicts with unions in its drive to cut costs and become more profitable.

Impact on Passengers and Flights

"The escalation is completely unnecessary," said human resources head Michael Niggemann on Wednesday, adding that the conflicts can only be resolved through talks.

Ongoing Negotiations and Future Talks

Niggemann criticised the demands surrounding the airline's core brand as excessive, saying it "simply has no financial leeway".

German pilots' union VC has called a 24-hour strike on Thursday at Lufthansa's core airline and Lufthansa Cargo in a dispute over pensions.

The union's members declared their readiness to strike in a ballot last year to pressure Lufthansa into granting more generous retirement benefits.

Talks have since resumed but have been intermittent and without result.

The pilots' strike will affect all flights departing from German airports on Thursday, VC said in a statement.

Separately, the UFO union of flight attendants called on its members at Lufthansa's CityLine to strike on Thursday over the planned shutdown of its flight operations and "the employer's continued refusal to negotiate a collective social plan".

(Reporting Klaus Lauer, writing by Thomas Seythal, editing by Miranda Murray)