The German pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) has announced a new strike involving pilots of Lufthansa and its cargo subsidiary Lufthansa Cargo, scheduled for Thursday, March 12, and Friday, March 13, 2026. The industrial action will affect flights departing from German airports and is expected to lead to numerous cancellations and schedule changes.
Lufthansa says it is working intensively to minimize the impact on passengers. The airline is attempting to operate as many flights as possible with the help of other airlines within the Lufthansa Group as well as partner carriers.
Passengers affected by flight cancellations or rebookings are expected to receive an email notification on Wednesday, March 11, around midday, with updated information regarding their travel plans. Lufthansa advises travelers to check the status of their flight on the airline’s official website before heading to the airport and to ensure that their contact details in the booking are up to date.
The strike was confirmed by the Vereinigung Cockpit union on March 10, with the dispute centered on disagreements over the pilots’ pension scheme. VC President Andreas Pinheiro said he would have “preferred to avoid further escalation,” but noted that Lufthansa has not yet presented a concrete proposal to improve the company pension system.
According to the union, since the previous strike on February 12, 2026, Lufthansa has not submitted any new offer. Arne Karstens, spokesperson for the union’s Group Collective Bargaining Commission, stated that the union has already gone through seven rounds of negotiations without results. “We have negotiated long enough without an offer. We will only continue talks when a negotiable proposal is on the table,” he said.
The union argues that until 2017, pilots had a traditional company pension plan with guaranteed payouts, which was replaced at the employer’s insistence with a capital market–based model. According to VC, the new system results in significantly lower pension benefits for pilots.
Lufthansa, however, maintains that the current pension scheme is already at a high level. The airline’s head of human resources, Michael Niggemann, described the planned strike as “completely incomprehensible,” particularly at a time when the aviation sector is facing heightened geopolitical uncertainty and when passengers worldwide are affected by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. Niggemann stressed that Lufthansa already provides a very strong level of retirement security for its pilots and that pensionable remuneration has been significantly increased in recent years. He added that the relatively low margin of the Lufthansa Classic segment leaves little room for further increases.
In addition to Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo pilots, the strike will also affect Lufthansa CityLine. The union has called on pilots of the regional subsidiary to join the industrial action after negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement and pay increases failed to produce an agreement. Although Lufthansa CityLine presented its first offer in late February, the union rejected it, saying it fell far short of their demands.
Lufthansa expects that the flight schedule will largely return to normal from Saturday, March 14. The airline is offering affected passengers the possibility to rebook free of charge on alternative flights between March 10 and March 23, or to request a refund for their tickets.
For cancelled domestic flights within Germany, passengers may exchange their airline ticket for a train ticket with the national rail operator Deutsche Bahn at no additional cost. The rail ticket is valid on the day of issue and the following day, and passengers connecting to flights from airports such as Frankfurt are advised to allow sufficient time when transferring from train to aircraft.
The union has emphasized that Lufthansa flights departing from crisis areas in the Middle East will not be affected by the strike action.
The new strike marks another chapter in the ongoing labor dispute between Lufthansa and its pilots in recent months, and it remains to be seen whether the industrial action will lead to progress in negotiations or further escalation between the union and the airline’s management.
