Tick, tick, tock. Lufthansa and its pilot union have agreed to a compensation deal after the union threatened a two-day strike this week on Wednesday and Thursday, reports Reuters.
It follows a one-day strike last Friday which forced Germany's flag-carrier to cancel roughly 800 flights.
"The collective bargaining negotiations with the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) will continue under high time pressure," the airline said in a statement earlier today. "Due to the strike call published tonight, the strike-related flight cancellations for Wednesday and Thursday must be decided today at 12:00."
The airline claims to have been caught off guard by what it characterized as an unreasonable escalation. "We lack any understanding for this course of action," said Michael Niggemann, Chief Human Resources Officer and Labor Director of Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
"The union will present the new demand for the first time today," said the airline's statement. "The previous demand for automated inflation compensation has been replaced by a demand for an annual pay increase of 8.2% starting in 2023 - in addition to a 5.5% increase this year. The union's list of demands contains a total of 16 individual points."
As of 2:30 p.m. today in Germany, none of Lufthansa's flights for Wednesday and Thursday had been canceled, according to data from FlightAware. The airline wanted to avoid a repeat of last Friday's crippling disruptions, which grounded the lion's share of its flights and affected about 130,000 passengers.
Viewed through a wider lens, this is just another example of the industry's labor unions flexing their muscles - and winning. Earlier this summer, British Airways workers secured an 8% pay increase from management, after threatening a strike at London's Heathrow Airport.
In Spain, cabin crew working for the budget carrier Ryanair have planned weekly 24-hour strikes through January 2023 in an effort to secure better work conditions.
Meanwhile, in the United States, heading into Labor Day Weekend, pilots from airlines including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways picketed at 13 airports nationwide.
Notably, in late June, United Airlines agreed to give its pilots raises of 14.5% within 18 months. The pilots appeared satisfied, until, six days later, American Airlines offered its pilots a new contract with pay increases totaling nearly 17%.
But that was apparently deemed too low. In August, American Airline pilots union said it was seeking a 20.4% pay raise over three years, as well as improved scheduling.
The current base salary for an American Airlines captain with 12 years of experience flying 80 hours a month ranges between $267,000 a year if flying a narrowbody plane to $329,000 for flying a widebody, according to the Allied Pilots Association, the labor union representing American Airlines pilots.