Lufthansa flight attendants on strike again

style="float: right; margin-bottom: 10px; font-weight: 600;"Tue 5th Nov, 2019

The flight attendant's union UFO has again called for a two-day strike at Lufthansa. Affected are all departures from Germany on Thursday and Friday this week (November 7th and 8th 2019). Passengers must expect flight cancellations and delays.

According to UFO, the reason for the strike is Lufthansa's refusal to negotiate tariffs. UFO vice-president Daniel Flohr announced that the strike could also be extended to other airlines of the Lufthansa group such as Eurowings and Sunexpress.

Lufthansa plans to create a replacement flight schedule for the duration of the strike by Wednesday noon and publish it online.

What rights do passengers have if their flight is canceled or delayed? Here are answers to the most important questions:

Lufthansa is already offering its customers to rebook free of charge - but only to those who had bought a ticket for the planned strike days (Thursday and Friday) from, to or via Frankfurt and Munich. According to Lufthansa it is possible to rebook a Lufthansa Group flight within the next ten days, regardless of whether the originally booked flight is actually cancelled. German domestic flights can also be converted into train tickets on the Lufthansa website. Passengers should in any case clarify in advance if their flight is actually going to g ahead as planned.

If the airline does not book a passenger to another flight in advance, it is recommended to show up at the airport at the original time of departure - otherwise you might miss a replacement flight organized at short notice.

If the flight is canceled, customers can choose: if you want to give up your flight, you can claim the money back. Experts recommend to print out the corresponding information of the airline from the internet for later proof. If you still want to travel, you are entitled to be booked on another flight or a train. The airline has to take care of getting those affected to their destination as soon as possible.

If the flight is cancelled without notification and therefore causing the passenger longer waiting times, you are entitled to extra support services such as telephone calls, internet access, meals, drinks and possibly an overnight stay at a hotel. This support can be claimed for shorter travel distances of less than 1,500 kilometers from two hours of waiting time. For distances between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometers from three hours of waiting time and for distances of more than 3,500 kilometers after four hours of waiting time.

An additional compensation of up to 600 Euros, which can often be claimed for disruptions in flight operations, can not be asserted in the event of a strike as the airlines rely on ,,exceptional circumstances" in such cases. Travelers also won't receive any compensation if they have booked a hotel room. Better off are people who have booked a package holiday: the tour operator has to take care about an alternative way of transportation and they can claim a refund directly from their travel operator.


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