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Thousands Walk Off Job

Service Strike Fails to Cripple Lufthansa

Lufthansa managed to maintain its normal flight schedule Monday despite a strike called by the Ver.di union as it aims to secure a 9.8-percent pay increase. The company hired external staff, and many employees haven't joined in the strikes, which the union now plans to widen to more airports.

Germany's biggest airline, Lufthansa, said a strike by ground and cabin staff had hardly disrupted flights Monday, even though up to 5,000 employees took part on the first day of the open-ended strike.

"We've had 1,000 flights fly so far today without any major problems -- no cancellations and only a few minor delays," a Lufthansa spokesman told Reuters Monday afternoon.

Television pictures showed planes taking off as usual and departure boards indicating only short delays.

Lufthansa limited the impact of the walkouts by reassigning non-striking staff and hiring outside help. But services union Ver.di, which launched the strike at midnight Sunday, said the impact of the strike would grow in the days to come starting Tuesday, when it intends to call on staff members at more airports -- including those in Berlin, Stuttgart and Nuremberg -- to join the strike.

"Our strike is going very well," Ver.di negotiator Erhard Ott told German television, saying workers in Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne, Hanover and other cities had staged walkouts. Cargo, maintenance and catering had been hit, Ott added.

Ott also voiced his satisfaction with the first day of the strike, claiming that the lack of cancelled flights meant that Lufthansa -- the strike's intended target -- had been hit, rather than its passengers. "The emergency plan implemented by the company has cost a lot of money," Ott said.

Some analysts have put the cost of the strike at about €5 million euros ($7.9 million) per day for Lufthansa, Europe's second largest airline by passenger numbers.

One ground stewardess at Hamburg's airport said she didn't see why she should join the strike. "Lufthansa made a good offer," she said. "I think it's unacceptable to respond to that by striking."

The union wants 9.8 percent more pay for around 50,000 ground staff and cabin crew members over a period of 12 months, while Lufthansa has offered 6.7 percent over a 21-month period plus a one-time bonus payment.

The pay dispute at the height of the holiday season has sparked fears of massive transport problems for vacation flyers.

At Frankfurt's airport -- Germany's largest -- some 2,500 staff members joined the strike, including 200 cargo workers, more than 900 catering staff and 600 technicians.

Ground personnel and flight crews began to walk off the job at midnight Sunday after Ver.di members voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike last week.

Lufthansa Chief Executive Wolfgang Mayrhuber has said the air carrier cannot afford more than its latest offer. But unions argue that Lufthansa is well-positioned to afford the pay hike given the company's operating profit last year of €1.38 billion ($2.17 billion), a figure it expects to reach again in 2008.

Lufthansa has been able to maintain its targets despite growing competition among carriers and soaring jet fuel prices.

The airline is also holding separate talks with the Cockpit trade union, which represents pilots at its CityLine and Eurowings subsidiaries. Warning strikes by pilots last week forced the cancellation of around 900 flights by those carriers.