Hundreds of Eurowings pilots want to start a three-day strike from Monday in the escalating dispute with the German airline over working and rest times.
Thousands of passengers on the Lufthansa Group’s low-cost airline could be placed under house arrest after the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union announced on Friday evening that its members would go on strike at midnight on Monday 17 October and would not return to work until 11.59pm on Wednesday , October 19.
“This strike would not be necessary if Eurowings negotiated with us on an equal footing,” complained union spokesman Matthias Baier on Friday evening. Baier accused the airline of “playing for time” as the two sides talk on the phone about the pilot’s working hours.
“The practice of companies regularly scheduling employees up to the legal limit creates a significant burden that needs to be mitigated,” the union said.
“Due to the completely inadequate offers, the employees have no choice but to express their dissatisfaction with the workload in their airline by going on strike and building up pressure,” Baier continues.
Eurowings pilots are already protected by working time regulations, so-called “Flight Time Limitations”, which stipulate maximum duty times, absolute limits on flight times and minimum rest periods. However, these rules are considered the absolute upper limit that flight crews should work towards.
The VC union wants to oblige Eurowings to a binding contract with more restrictive duty times and flight times while at the same time guaranteeing longer rest periods.
Pilots held a day-long strike over the issue back in early October, leaving around 30,000 passengers stranded. According to its own statements, Eurowings was still able to carry out around half of the planned flight plan.
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Mateusz Maszczyński
Mateusz Maszczynski honed his skills as an international flight attendant with the most prominent airline in the Middle East and flew for a well-known European airline throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Matt has a passion for the airline industry and has grown into an expert in passenger experiences and human-centric stories. Some of journalism’s biggest names often rely on Matt’s industry insight, analysis and reporting, who always keeps his ear to the ground.