Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr admitted that the current pilots’ strike ‘really hurts’ the airline, with hundreds of flights axed across its core operations. The Vereinigung Cockpit union’s 48-hour action, from 00:01 on March 12 to 23:59 on March 13, 2026, targets Lufthansa Passenger Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo, and Lufthansa CityLine departures from German airports.
This escalation follows stalled wage talks at Lufthansa CityLine and disputes over company pensions for pilots at Lufthansa and Cargo. Executive Board member Michael Niggemann called the strike ‘completely incomprehensible,’ noting it disrupts a critical period for the carrier.
A special reduced flight schedule was published by 2:00 p.m. on March 11, aiming to maintain minimum services through internal appeals to staff. Discover Airlines and Lufthansa CityAirline continue normal operations from Germany and absorb some displaced traffic where feasible.
The strike compounds pressure on Lufthansa’s operations, already strained by a separate one-day cabin crew walkout by UFO union on Friday, affecting Frankfurt and Munich flights from 12:01 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. local time. Recent data shows over 1,900 cancellations in a 24-hour span, hitting 22.65% of domestic and 20.04% of international flights, underscoring the operational and financial toll on Europe’s largest airline group.