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Members of the German Lufthansa pilots union attend a demonstration in front of Frankfurt Airport - Source: Reuters -
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A strike by Lufthansa pilots in Germany over job security grounded about 900 flights, just as rival British Airways' cabin crew voted to join the fray to protest harsh cost cuts.
Some 4,000 German Lufthansa pilots began a four-day stoppage, causing travel chaos and leaving thousands of passengers around the world stranded, on concerns the company could try to cut staff costs by shifting jobs to foreign units.
Airlines are reeling from the aviation industry's worst year ever, in which demand dropped faster than capacity could be cut, but workers are becoming increasingly impatient with pressure from employers to tighten their belts.
"We would just like to get home after such a long flight," said Brawn van Mulheim, a Lufthansa passenger stalled in Munich on his way from New York to Brussels.
Europe's national flag carriers have been trying to cut their costs as they lose market share to low-cost airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet whose no-frills offers lure customers looking to cut their travel spending.
Lufthansa is trying to cut 1 billion euros of costs by 2011, to become more lean while expanding abroad.
Last September, Lufthansa completed a shopping spree adding Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines and BMI to its stable of carriers. It also started Lufthansa Italia.
British Airways wants three quarters of its crew to accept a pay freeze this year, and for 3,000 staff to switch to part-time working, along with a reduction in onboard crewing levels from 15 to 14 on long-haul flights from London Heathrow.
BA cabin crew voted in favour of a strike to protest the cost cuts, the second attempt at industrial action after a court forced the workers to abandon plans for a 12-day strike over Christmas that would have left a million travellers stranded.
Union Unite said no dates for the work stoppage had been set but reiterated that crew would not strike over the Easter holiday at the start of April.
British Airways said the decision to strike was "completely unjustified" and vowed that it would "not allow Unite to ruin this company."
Making demands
Adding to the upheaval, French air traffic controllers plan go on strike for five days from Tuesday to protest Europe's single sky policy, causing flight cancellations at the Orly and Paris-Charles de Gaulle airports.
One of the concerns raised by Lufthansa employees is to do with pay. The pilots have offered to forego increases if in return they get some control over which routes or pilot jobs are transferred to other group airlines.
Lufthansa has rejected that demand, saying it would require ceding control over parts of business strategy to its workers and the union.
The starting salary for a captain at Lufthansa is about 115,000 euros, more than for instance Easyjet's starting salary at just over 80,000 pounds, according to the companies' recruiting websites. Media reports put the top end of Lufthansa pilots' salaries at about 325,000 euros.
"As we have been saying last week, those pilots want to be treated like managers but are acting like underpaid bus drivers," said a local trader.
Lufthansa expects the pilots' strike will cost it about 100 million euros, in addition to lost ticket sales and possible damage to its reputation as it grounds at least 3,200 flights out of a total 7,200 over the four-day period.
Shares in Lufthansa ended Monday's trading session 1.7% lower at 10.995 euros, while British Airways was down 1.6%.
