It’s 2020 and strikes are in the air at both Air France and Lufthansa. What is the current status of strikes at both carriers?
Air France Strike Update
France is trying to change its national pension system, which has resulted in widespread strikes across the country. In solidarity, some Air France employees have vowed to strike with national workers opposing pension reform.
Nationwide strikes have gripped France all week, with a rail strike entering a second month.
Nevertheless, Air France intends to run its entire flight schedule today and tomorrow. No flights were cancelled yesterday either despite strike threats.
However, on Thursday January 9th Air France does expect some disruption of its short- and medium-haul flights due to a planned French Air Traffic controllers strike. All longhaul service will operate normally. If you wish to change your flight on January 9th to an earlier or later date, you can for no charge to a date between today and January 19, 2020. If you wish to travel beyond January 19th, Air France will refund your ticket for a future travel voucher on Air France or KLM.
Should your flight actually be impacted on Thursday, you are eligible for a full refund if your delay is longer than five hours.
You can check the latest details here.
Lufthansa Strike Update
A planned 10-day strike by the Unabhängige Flugbegleiter Organisation (UFO) cabin crew union has been called off in favor of more mediation. Talks will resume on January 16th. The union seeks better wages and working conditions for Lufthansa, Eurowings, and Germanwings employees.
Lufthansa was reluctant to recognize this union in the first place, waiting for a court opinion before even recognizing the UFO as a valid union representing its employees.
> Read More: Why Lufthansa Believes Upcoming Strike Is Illegal
In short: no strikes are likely for at least the next two weeks on Lufthansa, and hopefully will not occur at all.
You can check the latest details here.
CONCLUSION
Despite a horrendous week of strikes across France, Air France will only see flight cancellations on Thursday. Meanwhile, threatened strikes at Lufthansa have been called off, at least for now.
image: Kohei Kanno / CC 2.0
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