LH pilots go on strike

BERLIN Lufthansa pilots will go on strike at Germany’s biggest airport Friday over plans to change the airline’s early retirement policy, their union said.
The pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit said Thursday they would ground domestic and regional flights for six hours, from 1700 to 2300 (1500 GMT to 2100 GMT) at Frankfurt airport.
The strike could disrupt the departure Asia-bound flights that depart in the evening.
Lufthansa pilots can currently take paid early retirement from the age of 55. They are fighting a plan by the airline to raise the minimum age and to involve pilots in the financing of their pensions.
Last Friday, more than 100 flights were cancelled at several of Germany’s main airports as pilots of Lufthansa’s low-cost airline Germanwings also walked out in a dispute over early retirement provisions.
A Germanwings spokeswoman said that out of a total 164 flights scheduled, some 116 were cancelled, impacting 15,000 passengers.

sourced:ttrweekly.com