Saw a news alert that said they were going to vote yes/no on the strike next week.
A little worried about my trip in mid September. Bought our tickets through Lufthansa although our first leg TX - Chicago is operated by UA, and then Lufthansa Chicago - Dusseldorf. What happens if they do strike? Just cancelled flights, and too bad? Or do they try to get you on another flight? Hopefully they'll get things worked out by my trip, but it's coming up fast.
Posted by
Seattle
922 posts
Oh, no! My heart just fell into my stomach. Our flight goes at the end of August. :(
Posted by
Marin, CA
532 posts
We went through this stress for months last spring with British Airways. In their case they said that international flights would be covered and had alternative crew set up as standby. There was no strike in the end.
Posted by
Double Oak, TX, USA
47 posts
Hmm. I have a Frankfurt -> Hamburg flight on Lufthansa Sep 17 after arriving on AA from DFW. Certainly hope issues are settled by then. Not sure how to proceed if Lufthansa is shut down.
Posted by
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2787 posts
Has anyone here experienced having their scheduled airline have a strike?
What happened? Thanks
Posted by
Arlington, TX, USA
281 posts
Normally, for a legacy carrier like Lufthansa, they will implement a plan to rebook the passengers on other airlines. The potential strike may be
averted at the last minute. Many times it will be focused on high density domestic flights and not international flights.
Posted by
Seattle
922 posts
I found this this morning:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/17/lufthansa-strike-idUSL6E8JG4E220120817 Looks like the union is putting off a decision re strike action till next week. I wish I knew whether they would be likely to strike right away, or if they'd wait till, say, the Christmas travel season for maximum disruption.
Posted by
OP
Austin, TX, USA
24 posts
Don't know how busy things are at Christmas, I've heard of people going to "Christmas markets", but I can't imagine they'd wait that long. If they really wanted to be disruptive, Oktoberfest starts Sept 22nd, and you know that's got a huge amount of people flying into Germany - which is why I'm worried - we fly in Sept 16th, and home on Oct 4th - it could be right in the middle of that. Which is what I get for being cheap and not buying trip insurance, I suppose.
Posted by
Seattle
922 posts
I briefly scanned my trip insurance and it says I have coverage for "unannounced" strikes. I suppose this would be an "announced" strike? We leave in just under two weeks, so I'm really anxious about the situation.
Posted by
Seattle
922 posts
They're waiting till next Tuesday to do anything. I'm dying over here!! http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/23/uk-germany-airlines-strike-idUSLNE87M00W20120823
Posted by
Seattle
922 posts
From Lufthansa's website this morning: "Lufthansa confirms that labor negotiations with the flight attendants union (UFO) have been terminated without achieving agreement. Although Lufthansa and UFO had been exchanging proposals to resolve the collective labor dispute until the very end, the objectives of both parties could not be reconciled in a number of core points. Lufthansa maintains its position that no endeavor must be spared, including the cabin, to face the fierce competition. Among other things, remuneration structures must be market-oriented and productivity needs further improvement. Despite their different starting positions, both parties made concessions during the negotiations. However, the differences were insurmountable, and thus no settlement could be reached so far. Lufthansa is confident that a comprehensive settlement with UFO will still be possible. Lufthansa will keep customers informed on any new developments." I read an article that said flight attendants will only give a few hours' notice of a strike, and Lufthansa won't announce its contingency plans until the strikes are actually announced.