German airline Lufthansa cancels hundreds of flights as pilots begin 4-day strike

Lufthansa nixes 800 flights as pilots strike

BERLIN — German airline Lufthansa canceled about 800 flights Monday, affecting some 10,000 passengers worldwide, after more than 4,000 pilots began a four-day walkout over job security.

Europe’s biggest airline by sales said many long-haul flights to the U.S., including New York and Denver, were canceled because of the strike organized by the Cockpit pilots’ union. However, it said it was still running many domestic flights and short-haul routes across Europe.

Other flights to the U.S., including Newark, New Jersey, Dallas and Chicago were scheduled Monday, as were flights to destinations in Africa, South America and Asia.

“Usually we have 1,800 flights a day,” Deutsche Lufthansa AG said early Monday.

“For today, we foresee about 1,000 flights planned, but there may be more flights that could be canceled during the day,” the airline warned. It offers some 160 long-haul flights to destinations worldwide.

The airline, Germany’s largest, estimated the strike could cost it some €25 million ($34 million) per day.

Pilots for Lufthansa Cargo and the low-budget subsidiary, Germanwings, are also taking part in the strike.

Lufthansa said it was trying to rebook travelers on partner airlines or trains. Travelers unable to be rescheduled are being reimbursed for their tickets, it said.

“They’re giving us the service and support to get us where we need to go,” said Shane Parkinson, who was flying from Germany to Sicily, whose original flight from Frankfurt was scrapped. “They wouldn’t upgrade us to business class but it could have been worse.”

Germanwings said it was operating several flights over the four-day period to destinations including Britain, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Italy and Croatia, among others, but warned of cancellations, too.

Lufthansa, based in Cologne, owns or holds significant stakes in airlines including Swiss International Airlines, Austrian Airlines, JetBlue of the U.S. and Britain’s BMI. Those are not affected.

The pilots are seeking increased work security and want German labor conditions to apply to Lufthansa pilots hired abroad, in an effort to prevent their jobs from migrating to neighboring countries with cheaper conditions.

Lufthansa denied it was planning to relocate the jobs.

“Not one job has been moved. No Lufthansa pilot’s job has been scrapped and no job cuts are planned at the moment,” said Christoph Franz, Lufthansa’s deputy chairman.

The airline reached out to travelers online, too, posting a strike schedule on its Web site and offering updates on whether flights were canceled or not on its Twitter feed.

“In Cairo, people had who Lufthansa connecting flights had problems. There were long lines at the Lufthansa counters,” said Achmed Abdullah, who flew to Frankfurt from Egypt before changing airlines to fly to Slovenia for a business meeting.

“I fly back Friday,” he said. “I hope this will be over.”

AP Business Writer George Frey in Frankfurt contributed to this report.

On the Net:

www.lufthansa.com

www.twitter.com/lufthansa_de