German airline Lufthansa’s subsidiary Eurowings' pilots call for a strike again due to THIS reason

German airline Lufthansa’s subsidiary, Eurowings called for a second strike in this month itself. The pilots have now called for a three-day strike which started today morning but this time, due to a different reason. This time the dispute is reported to be over working conditions. The Vereinigung Cockpit union called pilots out on a three-day strike, which may affect passengers on a large scale. However, despite the walkout, Eurowings stated that it expected more than 230 of Monday’s planned 400 services to go ahead as usual. Flights operated by Austrian subsidiary Eurowings Europe and by Eurowings Discover, which flies from Frankfurt and Munich, weren't affected. 

At Duesseldorf airport, however, 102 of the day's scheduled 171 Eurowings flights were cancelled, German news agency DPA reported. Pilots are asking for the maximum number of flying hours to be reduced. They previously staged a one-day strike on October 6. 

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Eurowings described the latest strike as disproportionate and irresponsible. Strikes at parent company Lufthansa were called off last month after the airline and union reached a pay deal to address the effects of inflation.

Vereinigung Cockpit called for a 5.5 percent raise for its members this year and an inflation-busting 8.2 percent increase in 2023. Pilots also have sought a new pay and holiday structure. The airline has said those measures would increase its staffing costs by about 40 percent, or around 900 million euros over two years.

In September as well, pilots went on strike over salary issues, which affected almost 800 flight services, affecting nearly 1.3 lakh passengers. Delhi Airport had witnessed protests from about 700 passengers - almost all Canada-bound students - who were to fly to Frankfurt and Munich that night. The police had to intervene that night to restore traffic flow at the terminal. Another strike call was given for September 7 and 8, luckily that was withdrawn.

(With inputs from AP)