Discovery airline strike begins

The strike by pilots and cabin crew at the Lufthansa subsidiary Discovery Airlines has begun at the end of the holiday season. This means that passengers will experience delays and flight cancellations, the extent of which cannot yet be predicted. union The Cockpit Association (VC) and UFO have called for a four-day strike by airline crews, which will last until Friday. All flights out of Germany are affected, with the first scheduled to depart in the early morning. A UFO spokesman confirmed the attacks began that evening.

Discovery Airlines said it was working to minimize the impact on passengers and provide as many flights as possible. Passengers should check flight status regularly and provide contact details when booking. It is said that during the four-day strike, it plans to operate approximately 270 Discover flights on short, medium and long-haul routes from Frankfurt and Munich.

The company did not initially provide a number of expected flight cancellations. Lufthansa The impact of the strike will be mitigated by reallocating flights to other group companies.

Founded in 2021, holiday airline Discover Airlines has a fleet of 27 aircraft flying to holiday destinations in Europe and overseas. It has approximately 1,900 employees on board.

The strike was set against the backdrop of a conflict with trade unions Verdihas signed the first collective agreement for the young airline’s exploratory pilots and cabin crew. In addition to regular wage increases of 16% to 38% for both professional groups by the end of 2027, the Verdi contract also contains provisions on allowances and working hours, company pension plans or help in the event of losing a pilot’s license.

The content of the demands of UFO and VC is little different from the Verdi agreement, but the sectoral unions want to enforce their own collective bargaining agreement. They believe that Verdi does not have a sufficient number of members in flight operations and is used as a collective bargaining partner by Lufthansa management. For the VC and UFO unions, it is also about their influence in the Lufthansa parent company, where they are firmly rooted in collective bargaining.

VC pilots have already staged several rounds of strikes this winter. UFO has also called on its members to stop working to force negotiations.