The flight attendant union UFO has announced that a strike vote on possible strike action has been initiated among Lufthansa's approximately 18.000 cabin employees. Voting will take place from Wednesday, February 28, 2024 up to and including March 6, 2024.

“The cabin has demands that are more than justified. Especially during the crisis, colleagues made major concessions to secure jobs. The Lufthansa Group achieved the third-best result in the group's history in 2023. The crisis has been overcome and the signs point to growth. Management rewards itself for the successful turnaround and treats itself to generous salary increases and bonuses. It is decent and fair that the crews who have made many personal sacrifices for this success are also appropriately involved,” explains UFO Chairman, Joachim Vázquez Bürger. “The improved offers from Lufthansa are also unfortunately inadequate. Neither the term offered in connection with the percentage table increases nor the time when these increases should come are suitable for us. We expect a high level of participation in this ballot. The cabin has a high sense of responsibility, especially towards Lufthansa guests, who are ultimately the ones who suffer when flights are canceled. We don't like to go down the route of escalation, but we have no alternative as long as Lufthansa doesn't respond to our legitimate demands."

The union warns that Lufthansa is heading for operational chaos in the summer of 2024. The current plans are criticized and it is claimed that there is an acute shortage of staff. The current collective wage agreement was terminated by UFO on December 31, 2023.

“Passengers in particular notice that something is wrong at Lufthansa. Almost everywhere the system is at or above the limit of its performance. But it's not just the passengers who suffer, but especially the cabin as well. Colleagues regularly reach their physical and mental limits. We asked management countless times to do their homework. But you just muddle through and offend the employees. This is now over - the demands of the cabin are appropriate and necessary not only in view of the cuts in the crisis and the enormous inflation of the last few years, but also in view of the disastrous situation and the resulting dramatically increased demands on the workplace in the cabin." , adds Sara Grubisic, UFO board member for collective bargaining policy.