Employees of German flagship carrier Lufthansa have been called to go on a 24-hour strike on Thursday, the VC (Vereinigung Cockpit) union representing pilots and the UFO union of flight attendants both announced. 

What do we know so far? 

VC president Andreas Pinheiro announced the work stoppage, saying that staff "would have very much liked to avoid an escalation."

The VC union's members voted in favor of striking in a ballot at the end of last ‍September, hoping to pressure Lufthansa into granting more ​generous ​pension benefits. 

"We deliberately gave Lufthansa several months to come up with a solution," Pinheiro added. 

Meanwhile the flight attendant's UFO union also called on its members at Lufthansa's CityLine to strike on Thursday over the planned shutdown of ​its flight operations and "the employer’s continued refusal to negotiate a collective social plan."

Lufthansa announced one year ago that it would close Lufthansa CityLine, with operations and staff relocated to a new subsidiary.

Passengers who are flying with Lufthansa on Thursday could face disruption and cancellations all over the country. The strike is expected to impact all German airports, including major international hubs Frankfurt and Munich. 

Cargo flights would also be impacted.

Lufthansa says cost-cutting is necessary

In the latest earnings report, Lufthansa saw a loss of a fifth of its earnings in 2024, as profitability has fallen behind leading European airline rivals.

Lufthansa has said it needs to cut costs to manage its debt load. 

Last year, the airline said it would cut 4,000 jobs, or nearly 4% of its workforce. It has also been hit by walkouts, aircraft delivery delays and rising costs.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery