Lufthansa strikes force hundreds of German flight cancellations
Europe’s largest aviation group faces mounting pressure to lift profitability in a crowded market
Published Thu, Feb 12, 2026 · 12:53 PM
[FRANKFURT] Deutsche Lufthansa cancelled hundreds of flights departing from German airports on Thursday (Feb 12) as pilots and cabin crew staged a one-day strike in response to stalled contract negotiations.
The walkouts started at 12.01 am local time and are scheduled to last until 11.59 pm. The job actions are grounding both commercial and cargo flights, and they come one day before world leaders are set to fly in for the Munich Security Conference.
The German carrier expects “extensive flight cancellations”, though it has not provided specific figures because of what it called a “continuously evolving situation”. However, the German Airports Association estimated that more than 460 flights would be cancelled and about 69,000 passengers would be directly affected.
Lufthansa said that it’s seeking to limit the impact by rebooking people on other airlines within the group, which includes Austrian Airlines, Eurowings and Swiss. Travellers can also exchange tickets for travel with Deutsche Bahn, the national railway company.
The last pilots’ strike was in 2022.
This time, more than 140,000 seats ultimately could be affected, with a potential revenue impact of about 27 million euros (S$40 million), Morgan Stanley analysts, including Axel Stasse, said.
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The strikes follow failed negotiations between Lufthansa and pilot union Vereinigung Cockpit over funding retirement pensions and unsuccessful talks with the UFO union for cabin crews over a new working agreement.
Europe’s largest aviation group faces mounting pressure to lift profitability in a crowded market. Its list of challenges includes aircraft delivery delays, high taxes and fees, and the troubled rollout of its premium Allegris cabin.
Chief executive officer Carsten Spohr’s latest strategy to boost margins features bundling hub airlines and cutting 4,000 administrative jobs.
Lufthansa’s struggling flagship carrier faces significantly higher crew costs than newer units such as City Airlines and Discover, where they are as much as 40 per cent lower. As a result, the group is shifting more of its short-haul fleet away from the main airline. BLOOMBERG
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