German airline cancels 340 flights over walkout

Lufthansa’s low-cost subsidiary, Germanwings, has cancelled nearly 340 outbound flights from Germany in two days due to a walkout by pilots.

The strike started late Wednesday and will continue until 2259 GMT on Friday, a Germanwings spokesman confirmed.

The strike grounded 158 out of a total of 430 flights scheduled for Thursday and 180 of 474 flights scheduled for Friday.

Aircraft and pilots are to be borrowed from other airlines, and some passengers will receive tickets to travel by rail instead.

The Vereinigung Cockpit pilots union has called a long series of walkouts since April last year, forcing thousands of flight cancellations.

Last December, Lufthansa cancelled more than 1,300 flights due to a 36-hour strike by pilots.

The union opposes management plans to change the pilots’ transitional pension arrangements.

Lufthansa seeks to scrap an agreement allowing pilots to retire at 55 and receive up to 60 percent of their pay until they reach the statutory retirement age of 65.