Pilots and cabin crew employed by Lufthansa’s leisure-based subsidiary airline Discover Airlines have begun four days of strike action, affecting flights out of its main operating bases at Frankfurt and Munich airports. Starting on August 27, 2024, the industrial action being taken by the carrier’s pilots and cabin crew is scheduled to last until Friday, August 30, 2024, with widespread disruption across the airline’s schedules expected as a result.
The cabin crew and pilots planning to strike are represented by the trade unions Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation (UFO) and Vereinigung Cockpit (VC). At UFO, almost 92% of its members voted in favor of industrial action, while at VC, 81% of members elected to strike in support of an improved pay deal.
The call for industrial action made by VC and UFO comes after ver.di, Germany’s largest trade union and a competitor to both VC and UFO struck a deal on behalf of its members with Lufthansa at the beginning of August 2024. However, VC and UFO have both said that the ver.di deal is insufficient for their own members. Among other amendments to employee terms, ver.di secured a 5% pay rise. UFO is demanding 8.5% for its own members as part of any settlement deal.
The UFO does not have a current agreement with Discover Airlines, and according to the union, the carrier has been refusing to negotiate an agreement with it since 2022. UFO is seeking to negotiate a settlement to cover until December 31, 2026. Terms to be agreed on included remuneration, amount of leave, higher daily allowances, and other conditions.
“The Ver.di contract leaves many points unregulated to the advantage of the employer,” said Frank Blanken, the Head of Public Relations at VC. “At the same time, the design of the differentiation clauses appears to be questionable and on shaky legal ground. It shows the employer’s helpless naivete if they believe that pilots can be duped so easily.”
Discover Airlines was rebranded from Eurowings Discover in September 2023 by the Lufthansa Group to operate as a leisure-based subsidiary on short, medium, and long-haul flights from its two bases in Germany. It currently has around 2,000 employees and operates 27 Airbus aircraft comprising 14 Airbus A320s, three A330-200s, and ten A330-300s. The airline plans to operate a fleet of 33 aircraft by the end of 2027.
On the Discover Airlines website, the carrier states that it is working to minimize the impact of the strikes and advises travelers to regularly check on flight status. During the four days of the industrial action, Discover Airlines had planned to operate 135 departures from Germany, including flights to numerous Mediterranean tourist hotspots as well as to destinations in the US and elsewhere.
