Lufthansa strike strands thousands

Most Lufthansa flights from Germany remain grounded

FRANKFURT, Germany -- Around 13,000 passengers' flight plans have been thrown into disarray as Lufthansa pilots strike in support of pay claims.

The 12-hour walk-out, the first in the German airline's history, began at midnight and pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit said 220 passenger flights had to be cancelled. Lufthansa put the number at 190 of 260 scheduled flights.

Lines of stranded passengers stretched up to 100 metres through Frankfurt International Airport, the continent's busiest hub, with jamming on the airline's helpline and problems on the Web site adding to the stress.

AUDIO CNN's Chris Burns: Pilots ready to talk 750K/69.secs. AIFF or WAV sound

Some relief was offered by a handful of Lufthansa pilots in management positions not covered by the union who ran a skeleton service between Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich.

And German railways put on extra trains to try and help stranded travellers, honouring plane tickets for domestic routes.

The pilots are seeking pay rises of more than 30 percent and profit sharing and have threatened further action -- initially confined to flights that depart Germany -- every Thursday for four weeks.

They voted massively in favour of stoppages, arguing that such rises would bring them into line with pilots in other countries and would recognise low raises during the early 1990s, when the airline's finances were stretched.

Fresh negotiations are scheduled to begin on Wednesday after a breakdown in talks at the beginning of April, when pilots rejected an average pay increase offer of between 10 and 16 percent.

"We are ready to resume negotiations," said airlines spokesman Klaus Walther. "This strike is completely unnecessary."

On Thursday Lufthansa stock fell over two percent to 20.65 euros over fears of a prolonged stand-off that could cost the airline millions of marks, according to analyst estimates.

"I think in the end they will agree on a fairly expensive contract," said Bankhaus Metlzer analyst Juergen Pieper told the Reuters news agency.

However the stock recovered early on Friday, up 1.88 percent at 0722 GMT.

The airline earned one billion euros ($893.7 million) in 2000, although last week it announced that first-quarter operating profit fell 95 percent.

Last month Lufthansa chairman Juergen Weber said the airline had posted the best results of all European airlines for the fourth year in a row with an operational profit of more than $900 million in the year 2000.

He has blamed the high cost of aviation fuel as well as investment in electronic commerce projects for the collapse.

The company's chief financial officer, Karl-Ludwig Kley, said the operating profit for the whole of 2001 would likely come in flat only if it reaches an "acceptable agreement with the trade union in a reasonable time."

A short one-day strike in late March -- the first since 1996 -- stopped 116 flights and delayed about 10,000 passengers at airports throughout Germany.

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Lufthansa

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