Lufthansa pilots continued negotiations with airline management at press time over what they claim amount to scope-clause violations by the German flag carrier. The pilots, organized in a trade union called Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), started a four-day strike on February 22 for higher pay, better work time arrangements and–above all–job security. However, a court curtailed the action on its first day, deeming its goals disproportionate and illegal, and ordered the pilots back to work until at least March 8.
The pilots suspect that Lufthansa intends to outsource intra-European flights to subsidiaries and lower-cost partner airlines, including regionals, making a number of mainline crews redundant. To prevent that move, they tried forcing the airline
to offer pilots of all its subsidiaries and associate companies the same working conditions and pay as mainline crews. Lufthansa pilots had obtained job guarantees in the 1990s, when the flag carrier enjoyed a near monopoly on scheduled services
in Germany and was not the multi-airline conglomerate it is today.
