Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 11, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 11, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleLufthansa criticizes the pilots strike planned for Thursday, citing financial constraints and urging for negotiations. The strike will affect all flights from German airports.
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.
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.
"The escalation is completely unnecessary," said human resources head Michael Niggemann on Wednesday, adding that the conflicts can only be resolved through 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)
A pilots strike is a work stoppage initiated by pilots, often due to disputes over pay, working conditions, or other employment terms.
Union demands refer to requests made by labor unions on behalf of their members, typically concerning wages, benefits, and working conditions.
Financial leeway refers to the flexibility a company has in its budget or finances to accommodate additional expenses or demands.
A core airline is the main airline within a larger airline group that operates the majority of flights and services.
Retirement benefits are financial compensations provided to employees after they retire, often including pensions or other savings plans.
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