Lufthansa: Strike strands 113,000 passengers on Monday

Lufthansa grounded 929 flights Monday as a ongoing flight attendant strike snarled the operations of Germany’s largest carrier for the third time in four days. Lufthansa says Monday's cancellations accounted for nearly a third of its entire schedule and affected about 113,000 passengers.

The attendants’ strike is now in the third day of a week-long series of actions threatened by the union. Strike-related disruptions also forced Lufthansa to ax more than 800 combined flights Friday and Saturday. The union did not strike on Sunday, saying it did not want to inconvenience leisure travelers. The union already has announced plans to continue the strike into Tuesday, when it plans to strike on most long-haul flights from Frankfurt and Munich and on most flights from Dusseldorf.

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Monday, however, appears to be the worst day yet for the strike action. The attendants planned to walk off the job for most flights at Lufthansa’s Frankfurt and Dusseldorf hubs from 4:30 a.m. through 11 p.m. local time Monday. Flights from Lufthansa’s Munich hub also were affected.

“Nearly all continental and intercontinental flights had to be cancelled,” Lufthansa said in a strike update posted to its website. That included many of the carrier’s flights to and from the United States and Canada.

The union has threatened to extend its strike through the end of the week by rotating labor disruptions across Lufthansa’s hubs and important bases.

Strikes have become a recurring problem for Lufthansa, which has been working to cut costs this decade. The carrier is facing increased competition in Europe low-cost rivals and in international markets from the rapid global expansion of Persian Gulf rivals Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways. Strikes have already cost the carrier €130 million this year alone, The Wall Street Journal reports.

As for the the current attendants' strike, The Associated Press says group's chief concern centers on “transition payments,” which guarantee pay and benefits until state retirement benefits begin for workers who decide to retire early.

Lufthansa’s pilots have launched numerous strikes on similar concerns throughout the past two years. A strike by pilots in September was their 13th in the previous 18 months, according to Journal.

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