Strike today 61 Eurowings flights cancelled at Cologne/Bonn airport
Cologne · Many Eurowings planes will be grounded today. After failed negotiations about the collective agreement, the airline's pilots want to strike. Dozens of flights have been cancelled at Cologne/Bonn airport.
The all-day strike planned for today by the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) pilots' union is expected to paralyse every second Eurowings flight. The Lufthansa subsidiary will, however, do its utmost to keep the impact of the strike action on passengers as limited as possible, the airline announced on Wednesday. Only flights operated by Eurowings Germany will be affected by the call for strike action, and not those operated by Eurowings Europe. The airline expects to be able to operate "about half of our normal flight timetable". It said it could also call on partners in the Lufthansa Group for support. Passengers are being asked to keep up to date with the status of their flight on the website www.eurowings.com or via the Eurowings customer app. Anyone whose flight is cancelled due to the strike should have been informed of alternative transport by Wednesday afternoon at the latest, the statement said.
Eurowings strike: 61 cancellations at Cologne/Bonn Airport
The cancellations comprise 31 departures and 30 arrivals. Originally, 90 Eurowings flights were scheduled for today. The regular flight schedule on Thursday includes a total of 225 passenger flights (114 take-offs and 111 landings). The airport points out that there may be irregularities in the flight schedule even beyond the strike period.
The Vereinigung Cockpit pilots' union announced on Tuesday that negotiations on the collective wage agreement at the Lufthansa subsidiary had foundered. Eurowings criticised the announced strike as disproportionate and irresponsible.
For the VC, the conflict is about better working conditions. A central demand is the unburdening of employees, for example by reducing maximum flight duty times and increasing rest periods. Eurowings personnel manager Kai Duve said that "in times when millions of people are afraid of a cold winter and the next heating bill" the strike action was excessive and dangerous for the future viability of flight operations and jobs.
Original text: dpa
Translation: Jean Lennox
