Pilots and flight attendants of the Lufthansa Group’s holiday airline Discover Airlines will go on strike

Summary

  • Discover Airlines flight attendants have planned a four-day strike from August 27 to 30.
  • The reason for the strike was the airline's refusal to negotiate with UFO and the need for its flight attendants to join another union.
  • Lufthansa had previously stated that it wanted to expand Discover Airlines' operations at competitive costs.



Discover the airlines Flight attendants, represented by the Independent Flight Attendants Organisation (UFO), have called for a four-day strike to protest against the airline's attempts to allegedly persuade cabin crew to join another union, namely the United Services Union ver.di.


Strike for four days

In the strike announcement, UFO said that all members of the union as well as cabin crew employed by Discover Airlines in Germany can join the strike.

The industrial action was scheduled to take place between 27 and 30 August (inclusive) and would affect departures from German airports.

Discover Airlines Airbus A320 takes off from TFS shutterstock_2367384035

Photo: Pavel1964 | Shutterstock


Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium showed that Discover Airlines had scheduled 135 departures from Germany during the four days, with an average of 212.7 seats per departure during the period.

Discover Airlines departures from Germany between 27 and 30 August

Flights

Seats (total)

27.August

31

6,744

28.08.

33

6,982

29.08.

36

7,689

30.August

35

7,284

In total

135

28,699

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The nine additional aircraft are expected to join Discover Airlines by the end of 2027.

Cooperation with ver.di

UFO stated that the union had not expected this and preferred to avoid industrial action. However, the alleged collaboration between Discover Airlines and ver.di was considered “unbearable” And “disturbing.”


“One reason for the strike is what the employer and the other union have cobbled together in three working days. Not only is it insufficient in many areas, but above all the membership recruitment program […]which is intended to buy members who have not come voluntarily and do not want to come.”

According to UFO, the benefits that should actually be available to everyone would only be available to those who join ver.di.

Discover Airlines A320

Photo: Tom Boon | Easy flying

The former union pointed out that someone was willing to abuse job security through a membership recruitment program that was based on the slogan that those who did not want to join would quickly lose their jobs.shocking.”


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The unions involved expressed their displeasure at Discover Airlines' lack of willingness to negotiate.

Comparatively worse conditions at ver.di

In a settlement paper from UFO, the union stated that ver.di had offered a significantly worse collective agreement. The former collective bargaining association had not concluded a contract with Discover Airlines and, according to UFO, the airline had refused to sit down at the table and negotiate a contract for the past two years.

Accordingly, UFO will demand a salary package that is around 20 percent higher than ver.di. The contract is valid until December 31, 2026, while ver.di's collective agreement expires exactly one year later.

In addition, UFO has set itself the goal of increasing flight attendants' salaries by 8.5 percent in 2025 and 6.5 percent in 2026, while ver.di's salary package provides for a flat-rate increase of 5 percent for the three-year contract period.

The differences go beyond the base salary and include additional days off, more vacation days, a higher allowance and more.


Discover Airlines Airbus A330 departing FRA shutterstock_2495950197

Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock

If the Lufthansa Group When the company released its first-half results in July, it acknowledged that its flagship airline was struggling to break even.

On the one hand, this is due to the disproportionately high operating costs in Germany, and on the other hand, new collective bargaining agreements have had an impact on the airline's earnings situation.

As a result, Lufthansa's The restructuring program included the expansion of Discover Airlines and Lufthansa City Airlines Operations at Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC) airports at competitive costs.

The competition costs mentioned by Lufthansa were reflected in the differences between the possible collective agreements of UFO and ver.di, which the former union group detailed in its strike announcement.


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