Passengers of Lufthansa Airline are currently suffering due to a three-day pilot strike which has caused the cancellation of as many as 3,800 flights.
The situation in the company has left a lot of passengers stranded.
Already, the strike is been tagged one of the biggest strikes in the history of Europe’s biggest airline. For three full days, 5,400 Lufthansa pilots intend to strike, causing the cancellation of 3,800 flights. Only about 500 of the shorter flights have been taken on by Lufthansa subsidiaries such as Eurowings, but the company’s budget airline Germanwings is also affected by the strike.
Lufthansa believes that around 425,000 passengers will be affected, and large sections of the air traffic in major German hubs like Frankfurt and Munich could be shut down altogether.
A strike of this magnitude is considered a “higher power,” which means that passengers simply have to accept the fact that there will be significant delays, re-routings, or cancellations. Several consumer advocate websites have said customers are not entitled to any compensation if they cannot make an important trip.
inside Germany. According to Lufthansa, customers can easily swap their flight tickets for rail tickets either at Lufthansa counters or online.
As many as 3,800 flights had to be cancelled already.
Once the pilot’s union Cockpit had confirmed the exact date of the strike, Lufthansa attempted to keep passengers informed of cancellations via e-mail or text message, as well as on the Lufthansa website, promising to deal with all cases as flexibly as possible. Passengers are also entitled to cancel their flights and receive a full refund.
Long-distance flights, however, are more complicated. Though Lufthansa said it is trying to transfer passengers to other airlines, it will presumably only be possible with a fraction of the flights, and most long-distance passengers will face serious delays.
“But they will be completely looked after by our staff,” Lufthansa spokesman Boris Ogursky told DW. “If passengers are waiting for a cancelled return flight to Germany, for instance, then they can turn to Lufthansa employees and we will find hotels for them to stay in until their flight takes place.”
Additional information: Deutsche Welle
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