Berlin - A pilots' union in Germany went on strike Tuesday with little warning, prompting flag-carrier Lufthansa to cancel 990 flights operated by its two short-haul subsidiaries. Lufthansa said it had offered pay rises to pilots at its CityLine and Eurowings units and criticized their union, Vereinigung Cockpit, for calling the sudden 36-hour stoppage instead of negotiating.
About one third of Lufthansa Group's flights on European routes were cancelled and tens of thousands of passengers were forced to rebook onto other airlines or trains. The strike was to end at midnight Wednesday.
CityLine and Eurowings, which fly propellor planes and small jets, pay flight crews less than the Lufthansa parent company does.
Vereinigung Cockpit, which represents pilots and flight-deck engineers, gave only two hours' notice of the noon Tuesday walkout. Some flights were expected to continue, since the union does not represent all the cockpit crews employed at the two lines.
Eurowings and CityLine operate short-haul Lufthansa connections within Germany and to nearby nations.
Two weeks ago the union held a 24-hour strike that knocked out 600 flights and caused many others to take off late by several hours.
The union, which has about 1,000 members working for the two airlines, is demanding pay scales closer to those used at Lufthansa, but has not publicized the extent of its demands.
Lufthansa spokeswoman Claudia Lange said the airline had offered hikes in two stages to lift CityLine pay 5.5 per cent and had bid 6.5 per cent more at Eurowings as well as one-off bonuses.
