Flight passengers have to be prepared for cancellations again: around half of the Eurowings flights will be affected by a pilot strike on Thursday.
While the autumn holidays are just around the corner in some federal states, the Cockpit Association (VC) is calling on its members at Eurowings Germany to go on strike.
Work is scheduled to stop on October 6 from 00:00 to 23:59.
According to a statement by the pilots' union, the negotiations on the so-called collective bargaining agreement have failed.
This year there have already been strikes among Lufthansa ground staff and pilots.
Eurowings pilots are on strike to reduce their workload
“The workload has increased significantly.
The employer regularly exhausts the working time of the colleagues up to the permissible maximum, that cannot be permanent,” says Matthias Baier, press spokesman and board member of the Cockpit Association.
One regrets the restrictions for passengers, but "due to the lack of accommodation by the Eurowings management" the only option left is industrial action.
Eurowings, on the other hand, criticizes the strike as disproportionate and irresponsible, as reported by the dpa news agency.
"Despite two upcoming salary increases of well over ten percent in the next four months, VC is demanding 14 additional days off per year and a reduction in the maximum weekly working time by five hours," says Kai Duve,
Eurowings Managing Director for Finance and Human Resources, in a statement.
The demands would make 20 percent of Eurowings flights impossible and thus endanger the future viability of flight operations and employees.
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Every second Eurowings flight will probably be affected by a pilot strike on Thursday.
© Rupert Oberhäuser/Imago
How do Eurowings passengers find out if their flight is affected?
The airline points out that only Eurowings Germany flights, not Eurowings Europe, are affected by the strike call.
The airline expects to be able to carry out around half of the normal flight program.
Partners from the Lufthansa Group should be used for this.
Conversely, this also means that this will probably not apply to just as many flights.
Passengers whose flight is canceled due to the strike should be informed of alternative transportation by Wednesday at the latest.
Passengers are encouraged to find out about the current status of their flight on the airline's website or via the Eurowings app before they start their journey.
You should urgently avoid these mistakes in travel cancellation insurance
You should urgently avoid these mistakes in travel cancellation insurance
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Pilots' strike at Eurowings: Passengers have these claims
"Due to the Eurowings strike, many travelers from Germany will not be able to take their booked flight as planned," says passenger rights expert Julián Navas from AirHelp.
“This is likely to pose problems for families in North Rhine-Westphalia in particular, where the autumn holidays have already begun.
In the event of delays of more than three hours or cancellations, affected passengers are entitled to compensation of up to 600 euros.
From a delay of three hours, there is also a right to alternative transport.
The rebooking to another flight must be carried out by the operating airline.
In the event of a delay of more than five hours or carriage at a later time, the airline must reimburse the full ticket price.
List of rubrics: © Rupert Oberhäuser/Imago