Eurowings pilots announce a strike for this Thursday, 6 October

Eurowings pilots will go on strike this Thursday, 6 October 2022 after negotiations with the airline’s management failed. “Ten rounds of negotiations, two of them after the clear signal of the ballot, have not led to any significant rapprochement,” pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) wrote in a press statement. 

VC demands better pay and improved working conditions: “for example, by reducing the maximum flight duty time and increasing the rest periods between duties. The current labour agreement has been unchanged since 2015,” the union said.

“The workload has increased significantly. The employer regularly uses up the working hours of the colleagues to the maximum permitted, which cannot be permanent,” says Matthias Baier, press spokesman and board member of VC. “We regret the discomfort for the passengers, but the Eurowings management doesn’t listen to our requests, forcing us to go on strike.”

“We are open to talks about how we can achieve reasonable working hours for Eurowings employees in the long term,” says Marcel Gröls, Chairman of VC. “So far, however, it has not been possible to agree on a common path with the employer. It is not enough to sit at the negotiating table – you also have to be willing to find a solution and not present counter-demands as an offer.”

On 2 September, Lufthansa pilots went on strike, forcing Lufthansa to cancel 800 flights.

On the strike, Eurowings said: “Only flights from Eurowings Germany are affected by the strike, not those from Eurowings Europe. Eurowings is doing everything possible to keep the impact of the strike measures on passengers as low as possible.

The airline assumes that it will be able to carry out around half of the normal flight programme. In addition to Eurowings Europe, the airline can also rely on partners in the Lufthansa Group.

Passengers are asked to keep themselves informed about the status of their flight.

Passengers whose flight will not take place due to the strike should be informed about transport alternatives by Wednesday, October 5 in the early afternoon at the latest.”