By Cristina Gallardo
Deutsche Lufthansa said a possible pilot strike this week is "completely incomprehensible" given the impact of the Iran war for passengers.
Pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit $(VC)$ announced a strike for Thursday and Friday at Lufthansa Classic and Lufthansa Cargo, and additionally on Thursday at Lufthansa CityLine, as part of a dispute with the company on pensions.
In response, Lufthansa board member Michael Niggemann said the strike call comes after the airline group already offers a high level of company pension provision at Lufthansa Classic.
"This escalation is completely incomprehensible," he said. "Especially not at a time when we are experiencing a new level of geopolitical uncertainty with the war in Iran and passengers worldwide are affected."
However, the union said that flights from Germany to a number of Middle East destinations--including Bahrain, Iraq, Israel, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar and Lebanon, among others--will be excluded from the strike action.
Until 2017, pilots at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo received a traditional company pension with guaranteed payouts, which was replaced by a capital market-financed model that the union said falls significantly short of the previous pension level.
The union added that Lufthansa hasn't submitted an offer since the last strike on Feb. 12 and despite seven rounds of negotiations.
"We would have much preferred to avoid further escalation," VC President Andreas Pinheiro said. "But there is still no offer on the table. It doesn't help if the other side only signals a willingness to talk but doesn't want to discuss substantial improvements to the company pension scheme."
The strike is also a protest against failed negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement on pay for Lufthansa CityLine cockpit staff based in Germany, the union said.
Niggemann said that VC should engage in talks with the company about modernization and the future size of the fleet, adding that this will have a direct and immediate impact on the career prospects of pilots.
Lufthansa said it plans to publish a special flight schedule for the strike period later Wednesday.
Write to Cristina Gallardo at cristina.gallardo@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 11, 2026 06:02 ET (10:02 GMT)
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