Frankfurt, September 2: Pilots at Lufthansa went on strike on Friday, throwing the German airline into chaos and forcing it to cancel hundreds of flights. The airline cancelled about 800 flights at its main bases in Frankfurt and Munich which affected almost 130,000 passengers worldwide. Lufthansa said it was working flat out to minimise the impact of the strike and resume operations.

The pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) announced the strike from 12.01 am to 11.59 pm on Friday after the talks with the airline’s management over salary hikes had failed. The union is demanding a 5.5% increase in pay this year, and an automatic inflation compensation thereafter for its more than 5,000 pilots. Lufthansa Cancels Flights: Huge Crowd at IGI Airport in Delhi After All Flights for Frankfurt and Munich From India Get Cancelled (Watch Video).

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Lufthansa, in their response, said it would continue the talks with pilots and the union. However, it is not in a position to increase the salary by demanded percentage. The demands, if fulfilled, would raise its staff costs by 40% over the next two years, Lufthansa added.

As the airline and the unions are hoping to meet a middle ground during negotiations, it is believed that normal flight operations will resume as soon as the strike is withdrawn and the management comes to a consensus with the protesting pilots union.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 02, 2022 06:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).