It’s time for another Lufthansa Strike – 12th and 13th March

The Vereinigung Cockpit union has called for full-day strikes on both Thursday, 12 and Friday, 13 March 2026.

As such, services operated by Lufthansa will be heavily impacted.

According to the airline:

• More than 50% of the originally planned flights will operate
• Around 60% of long-haul flights will operate
• 80% of Cargo flights will operate

In addition, numerous flights to and from Frankfurt and Munich will be operated by other airlines in the Lufthansa Group and by partner airlines.

Larger aircraft will also be used on the strike days to accommodate more passengers.

Lufthansa City Airlines will operate all flights scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Lufthansa CityLine, which is also affected by the Vereinigung Cockpit strike on Thursday, will be able to offer almost its entire flight programme again on Friday.

There is an exception, as the Vereinigung Cockpit union has announced that it will exempt flights to the Middle East from the strike call due to the current geopolitical situation. This affects one flight from Frankfurt to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday.

Why?

Vereinigung Cockpit has called out its pilots over the inconclusive negotiations on the company pension scheme for Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo pilots. Until 2017, pilots received a classic company pension with guaranteed payouts. At the insistence of the employer, this was replaced by a capital market-financed model, which clearly falls short of the previous pension level.

Impact

If there’s a strike, you know the drill by now. Head to https://www.lufthansa.com/gb/en/flight-information. Lufthansa will email you today if you are impacted.

You can check the status of your flight on lufthansa.com. before travelling to the airport. The most up-to-date information is always available there. Ensure your details are up to date.

Passengers holding tickets from Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, Brussels Airlines or Air Dolomiti, issued on or before 10 March 2026, and booked on Lufthansa-operated flights (including Lufthansa CityLine) on 12 or 13 March 2026, may:

• Rebook free of charge to another Lufthansa Group flight between 10 and 23 March 2026 via the Lufthansa Help Center, or
• Request a refund for their ticket at any time via the Help & Contact Center

Lufthansa currently expects to largely return to the regular flight schedule from Saturday, 14 March onwards.

For those with German domestic flights, you can exchange your tickets for a train journey with Deutsche Bahn

In Quotes

Andreas Pinheiro said

Francesco Sciortino, Hub Manager Frankfurt & Accountable Manager Lufthansa Airlines, said:

‘Lufthansa’s top priority is to get as many passengers as possible to their destinations despite the Vereinigung Cockpit strike call. I would therefore like to express my sincere thanks to the many pilots who have volunteered to work for us and will be on duty on Thursday and Friday.’

Michael Niggemann, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, responsible for Human Resources and Legal Affairs, said of the strike call:

“I regret the renewed strike call by the Vereinigung Cockpit union. This escalation is completely incomprehensible. Especially not at a time when we are experiencing a new level of geopolitical uncertainty with the war in Iran and passengers worldwide are affected. The union’s actions are also incomprehensible in terms of content: We already offer a high level of company pension provision at Lufthansa Classic, which guarantees very good retirement security both in an internal comparison within the Lufthansa Group and with other airlines, industries, and companies. 

This company pension scheme has even been further improved over the past two years with a significant increase in pensionable remuneration for our pilots. Given the low margin at Lufthansa Classic, which in itself would not allow for investment in new aircraft, there is no scope for further increases. Strikes will not change this.

We have offered pay increases to the pilots of our subsidiary Lufthansa Cityline. Here, too, escalation is unnecessary because we have shown a clear willingness to find a solution.

The path of escalation chosen by the Vereinigung Cockpit union is not the right one. Instead of further worsening the development opportunities for Lufthansa Classic through strikes, we should rather enter into discussions about modernization and the future size of the fleet, which will have a direct and immediate impact on the career prospects of pilots.”

VC President Andreas Pinheiro responded

“We would have very much liked to have avoided a further escalation, but there is still no offer.

It does not help if the other side only signals a willingness to talk, but does not want to talk about substantial improvements in the company pension scheme.”

Check your bookings

It goes without saying – check your bookings. 

When Lufthansa and one of its unions decide to have a tet-a-tet, it normally means things aren’t going to end well for the passenger.

Even with a 60% timetable planned, that’s still going to be a big hit on operations and capacity over the two strike days.

If you are travelling during that time, patience is going to be needed, not anger at any staff.

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