Lufthansa Group continues to have issues with its employee unions; the pilots of Eurowings Germany are striking on October 17 – 19, 2022, canceling roughly half of the flights.
Flights operated by Eurowings Europe, based in Austria, and Eurowings Discover are not affected by this strike action.
You can access Eurowings here.
Lufthansa intends to operate roughly 230 of the 400 usual flights operated by Eurowings. The cancellation affects roughly 20,000 passengers on Monday alone.
Announcement from Eurowings:
Three-day strike at the German pilots’ union VC
Cologne 17/10/2022
The pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) has called on its members at Eurowings Germany to strike for three days. The strike period is from 00:00 on Monday 17.10.2022 until 23:59 on Wednesday 19.10.2022. Eurowings consists of two flight operations. Only flights operated by Eurowings Germany are affected by the strike call, not those operated by Eurowings Europe. Eurowings Discover, which operates from Frankfurt and Munich, is also not involved in the strike call.
Eurowings deeply regrets the inconvenience caused to passengers and is doing everything possible to minimise the impact of the strike action on them.
The flight schedules for Monday and Tuesday have already been updated, the flight schedule for Wednesday (19.10.) is expected to be published on Tuesday morning around 06:00, as soon as it is clear how many pilots will report for flight duty despite the strike call.
Passengers are asked to keep themselves informed about the status of their flight.
Those travellers whose flight is cancelled due to the strike can find more information on transportation alternatives and rebooking options here.
Eurowings is required by law (EC 261/2004) not only to rely on flights by the Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa, Swiss & Austrian) but also on flights by other airlines.
Passengers affected have the right to be rebooked to their final destination at the earliest opportunity. If the flight is canceled, the passenger also has the right to a full refund.
In case of long delays, the airline must provide accommodation, meals, and phone cards.
Conclusion
It has been a rough year for Lufthansa regarding issues with its labor unions and the lack of employees by airport operators.
I would imagine that most affected passengers by this strike can be rebooked by other services by group airlines, but remember that they can also rebook you on airlines such as British Airways, KLM, Air France, and Finnair. However, they may not offer these without “encouraging” them to explore other rebooking options.
