Pilots’ Union, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) Called On Members To Strike Again

Pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) has called on its members to strike again. The next walkouts have been announced, this time with a duration of two days.

This Tuesday, on 29 November, there will be strikes affecting all short-haul flights from 00:01 to 23:59. And for the following day, Wednesday, 30 November, strikes affecting all Lufthansa flights departing Germany have been announced from 00:01 to 23:59.

Lufthansa’s representatives are very disappointed that VC does not want to continue talks, but is rather seeking another escalation and calling for additional strikes.

VC has continued to insist on demands that are far beyond what other professions have demanded, for instance. This is unacceptable.

Lufthansa will prepare a special flight schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday as quickly as possible. So far, over 345,000 passengers have been affected by 2,755 flight cancellations during the four days of strikes in the past week. The Group airlines Eurowings, Germanwings, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Air Dolomiti and Brussels Airlines are not affected by the strike. The pilots of Lufthansa Cargo have also not been called on to strike. Flights to and from Germany that are operated by Group airlines are flying as scheduled.

Lufthansa asks all its customers to take the precaution of checking the status of their flight on LH.com before travelling to the airport.

ITALY: Air Dolomiti

Air Dolomiti S.p.A. is an Italian regional airline with its head office in Dossobuono, Villafranca di Verona, Italy and operating base at Munich Airport, Germany. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lufthansa.

Air Dolomiti operates a network of routes from several Italian destinations to and from Munich. Some of these services are sold under the Air Dolomiti brand while the others are part of Lufthansa Regional.

Air Dolomiti was established on 30 December 1989 by the Linee Aeree Europee (L.A.E). The airline's name derives from the section of the Alps known as The Dolomites. It started airline operations in January 1991 with a Trieste-Genoa route and in 1992 started international services with flights from Verona to Munich.

After several years of co-operation, Lufthansa acquired a 26% stake in January 1999 and increased it to 52% in April 2003 and 100% in July 2003.Since then Air Dolomiti has been controlled by Lufthansa as a member of Lufthansa Regional, a strategic cooperation between regional European airlines.

The airline employed some 552 people at March 2007 and although most Lufthansa Regional subsidiaries operate under their parent's name and colours, Air Dolomiti retains its own identity. At one time the airline's registered office was in Dossobuono, Villafranca di Verona, while the airline's executive headquarters were in Ronchi dei Legionari.

As of March 2014, the all-Embraer fleet consisted of following aircraft:

Embraer E-195 10 In Service

As of September 2014, Air Dolomiti's average fleet age was 3.6 years. All of Air Dolomiti's aircraft are named after titles of famous Italian operas as a tribute to the city of Verona and its famous ancient theatre, the Arena di Verona.

Accidents and Incidents
On November 7, 1999 Air Dolomiti Flight 2708, a Fokker 100, wet-leased from Alpi Eagles (registration I-ALPL, c/n 11250), flying from Venice Marco Polo Airport, Italy, with 44 on board suffered maingear failure while approaching Barcelona International Airport, Spain - it landed safely on a foam carpet.

On August 24, 2008 an Air Dolomiti ATR 72 (registration I-ADLM, c/n 543), operating flight LH3990 from Munich, Germany, to Bologna, Italy, abandoned take off after the pilot announced a smoke alarm. The airline treated the plane's evacuation as a mild incident. But on August 26, an amateur video, filmed by a bystander, was circulating to great interest on television and the Internet. The footage shows tense moments of some 60 passengers jumping from and fleeing the burning plane before fire department workers extinguish the flames.

On May 17, 2012 an Air Dolomiti ATR 72-500 operating on flight EN-1912/LH-1912 from Munich to Venice returned to Munich after the right engine shut down and smoke was discovered in both cockpit and cabin. Shortly after touchdown the plane deviated from the southern runway and came to a standstill about 80 metres into the grass covered side strip. The nose gear is reported to have collapsed in the process. Of the 58 passengers and four crew members aboard, five passengers are reported to have received minor injuries.

GERMANY: Lufthansa Strike, 929 Flights Cancelled,113.000 Passengers Affected

The Independent Flight Attendant’s Organization (UFO) has announced strike action for all Lufthansa flights from/ to Frankfurt and Dusseldorf on Monday, 9.11.2015 between 4.30 and 23.00 and flights from/to Munich between 4.30 and 00.00.

Flights operated by Lufthansa CityLine, Germanwings, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines are not affected by potential strike actions and will therefore run as planned.

Lufthansa will do its utmost to keep the effects of a strike to a minimum and to inform passengers as soon as possible. For that reason, Lufthansa requests all passengers early on to stay up-to-date by checking the flight status on LH.com.

On Monday, out of the approximately 3.000 planned connections about 929 continental and intercontinental flights had to be cancelled. Affected by these cancellations are in total approximately 113.000 passengers.

Lufthansa did publish a special timetable. Nearly all continental and intercontinental flights had to be cancelled. Exceptions are a few flights between Munich and Frankfurt to London Heathrow, Dublin, Ashgabat, Delhi, Hongkong and Tokio.

Flights from Lufthansa CityLine, Germanwings, Eurowings, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines are not affected by the strike actions and will therefore operate as planned.

Lufthansa regrets any inconveniences caused by the strike.

GERMANY: Lufthansa Cabin Crew Strike To Cost Airline Greatly

Cabin crews with German airline Lufthansa have begun a week of strikes with a nine-hour walkout in Frankfurt and Dusseldorf after talks with the airline broke down over retirement terms.

Flight attendants are stopping work at the two airports from 2pm-11pm on Friday, and for 17 hours on Saturday from 6am.

The halt in Frankfurt on Saturday is limited to services on single-aisle Airbus A320-series and Boeing 737 planes, according to the union UFO.

Irish fans travelling to Bosnia with the airline for next Friday’s European Championships play-off fixture have been urged to make contact with officials.

Lufthansa said it had cancelled 290 flights planned for Friday including 15 long-haul departures, which are typically more profitable for carriers. It affected around 37,500 passengers. Eight long-haul flights would still take off, it said.

More strike action can be expected on Saturday at Frankfurt, but Lufthansa’s other main hub in Munich will not be subject to walkouts until after Sunday, given school holidays in that region.

Lufthansa Group airlines Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Germanwings, Eurowings, Brussels Airlines, Air Dolomiti and Cityline will not be affected by the strike. That means that overall, the airlines group can carry out 90 percent of the 3,000 flights it typically operates on a Friday.

The walkout comes after Lufthansa and the union failed to reach an agreement in a long-running row over early retirement benefits and pensions.

Lufthansa is trying to negotiate with various staff groups to bring down pension costs as part of a savings drive to allow it to better compete with low-cost rivals and leaner Gulf carriers.

Should Lufthansa management not make concessions, the union will carry out a threat to stage more walkouts until November 13th, it said.

“We regret this course of action, but we see no alternative,” union head Nicoley Baublies said.

Lufthansa shares were up almost three per cent on Friday, nearly recovering from Thursday, when they closed down 4 per cent after the union confirmed it would strike.

Equinet analyst Jochen Rothenbacher said strike costs could total €20 million ($21 million) a day, depending on the number of cancellations, giving a total of around €140 million should the union strike on seven days, as threatened.

Strikes by pilots have already cost Lufthansa €130 million so far this year.